SEPTA to acquire ACS-64 electric locomotives

Written by Keith 
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The board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has approved the acquisition of up to 18 ACS-64 electric locomotives from Siemens as part of its budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2015.

The contract consists of a base order of 13 locomotivesan plus an option for five additional units, and could be worth up to $154 million if all 18 units are ordered. The order will be SEPTA’s biggest investment in new rail vehicles since it signed a $254 million contract with Hyundai Rotem for 120 Silverliner V commuter EMU cars nearly a decade ago.

The locomotives will be almost identical to the fleet of 70 ACS-64 “Cities Sprinters” currently being delivered to Amtrak for intercity services on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to New York and Washington D.C.

SEPTA is due to receive its first ACS-64s in 2018. The fleet will replace aging AEM-7 and ALP-44 locomotives on Lansdale- Doylestown, Paoli-Thorndale and Wilmington-Newark (Del.) commuter services. SEPTA currently has 8 electric locomotives; the new units would replace them as well as help the agency help with efforts to expand capacity for growing ridership. The locomotives will  be paired with SEPTA’s existing push-pull coaches.

SEPTA said it is also looking to procure up to 45 new bi-level coaches.

”The purchase of these locomotives is one of many initiatives SEPTA is pursuing to renew its infrastructure thanks to Act 89, Pennsylvania’s comprehensive transportation funding solution that was passed in November 2013,” said SEPTA spokeperson Jerri Williams. ”Act 89 is allowing us to make progress on efforts to combat our $5 billion backlog of state-of-good-repair work.”

The SEPTA board also approved a number of other investments, including $29 million for a new station and 895-space parking lot at Lansdale, $20.2 million for the reconstruction of Levittown Station, and $8.3 million for the upgrading of Exton Station.

SEPTA’s 2015-16 operating budget has been set at $1.36 billion, including a subsidy of $658 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The budget does not include any plans for fare increases.

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