Mary-Louise Hoffman
Amtrak will start running a Siemens-made electric locomotive on the operator’s inter-city passenger rail lines beginning on Friday.
Siemens and Amtrak executives celebrated the locomotive’s debut at a ceremony held Thursday on the 30th Street Amtrak station in Philadelphia, Siemens said Thursday.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx attended the unveiling.
Siemens won a $466 million contract in October 2010 to manufacture 70 electric locomotives for Amtrak.
The Amtrak Cities Sprinter locomotives are intended to pull up to 18 train cars and operate at a maximum speed of 125 miles per hour.
Siemens designed the Amtrak locomotive with a self-correcting microprocessor control system, a crash energy management platform and a regenerative braking technology.
