American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Amtrak Railcar rebuilds

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Unfortunally AMTRAK has not yet spooled up on their repairs. They have hired a lot of new workers at Bear, Beech Grove and Wilmington. They have cut the turn times of periodic maintenance (COTS, etc) from 5 -6 days to 3 days giving an immediate 800+ extra seats available a day. The overhaul and wreck repairs are still suffering from past Bush administration cutbacks. Feb Amfleet/cab car overhauls were planned 16 / actual 10; Superliner 15 / 15 (moving up) AEM-7  0/0; ACELA  0/0. For FY 2009 the figures are still behind. Amfleet/Cab Car - 71/54; Superliner, Horizon, surfliner, baggage, viewliner, heritage dinner -  82/68; AEM-7  - 2/4;  ACCELA  5/0. P-42  5/2  This totals a deficit of FEB -  (-5) and FY 2009 - ( -38 ). Hope it will not take too long to output more equipment.  

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Shown below is a detailed list of the long-distance Amtrak cars planned for rebuild. You can read the 77 page report showing Amtrak stimulus projects at the following link:

 http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/ARRA/Amtrak-ARRA_Project-Summary-FY-09.pdf

 

This project will return 21 long distance cars from wreck status. Upon completion of the wreck work, these cars will receive a full overhaul in
accordance with the scopes defined by equipment type. The scope of work will include overhaul or replacement of major components and systems that
will maintain the rolling stock in a state of good repair and extend the life of the asset. The work scope includes replacing all carpet, drapes and
cushions, windows, batteries, battery chargers, lamps, wheel slide units, door motors, diaphragms, toilets, water heaters, and 480-volt train line.
Melamine will replace carpet on walls where applicable. The work scope also includes the overhaul of trucks and air brake valves. Additionally, this
equipment will include all work to upgrade the equipment to the Empire Builder standards (name given for this interior package which includes new color
scheme upgrades for floors, walls, and window coverings that was installed on the Empire Builder Service).
Justification:
This work will return stored and wrecked fleet to service and complete the long distance fleet types with ADA compliance (Americans with Disabilities
Act).
Increase capacity and fill-in on long distance service: 1 Superliner Coach-Bag (31006) @ $1.086m; 2 Superliner I Coach (34040 and 34087) @ $.672m.
Capitol Limited Route (will replace the Diner-Lounge Cars which will go on the Empire Builder Route): 3 Superliner I Diners (38017, 38026 and 38031)
@ $.970m; 1 Superliner II Diner (38049) @ $1.055m.
Auto Train Service: 1 Superliner II Deluxe Sleeper (32501) @ $1.073m.
Expand Empire Builder Route: 5 Superliner I Sleepers (32014, 32040, 32046, 32049 and 32065) @ $1.073m; 1 Superliner II Sleeper (32112) @
$1.055m.
Supplement daily shortage on long distance service: 2 Superliner II Trans Sleepers (39008 and 39023) @ $1.065m.
Lake Shore Limited Route: 1 Viewliner Diner (8400) @ $1.634m.
3 Superliner I Lounges (33003, 33011 and 33016) @ $.378m; 1 Superliner II Lounge (33036) @ $.512m.
The hiring of new employees will provide an opportunity to have trained mechanical personnel actively employed who will be able to smoothly transition
into positions made available through attrition in the Beech Grove Shops at the end of this 2-year project. This condition will minimize the downtime
that occurs during recruiting, training periods and learning curves.