From the Amtrak OIG office. Amtrak issued a sole source RFP from the original builder of the Acela train sets last August. ( The sole source is because the original Acela contract allowed the builder to keep engineering and drawings as proprietary information; [who was Amtrak president then?] ). The original builder ( whom I cannot remember ) is supposed to present the proposal by the end of this month ?
The OIG report made a few suggestions to enable Amtrak to better track the costs of these additional cars. All upgrades either done or in process are to be included on the new cars.
Not out of line or out of order. Many initial bid contracts for government or others allow for or call for additional units to be purchased within a certain time period (and prossibly with allowance for improvements).
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Anybody want to start the over/under bets on cost per car?
The original builder was Bombardier as prime contractor with Alstom as sub (Acela has TGV guts) with assembly in Rutland Vt., I think.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Why? Why start something when there is nothing concrete to go on? Just for the sake of starting something? These are the kinds of posting that get tempers flared and moderators fuming and nothing gets accomplished.
$3.2M. That's my over/under.
The 20 Acela Train Sets (two 6,000hp locomotives and six cars) were built by "BAC"( Bombardier Alstom Consortium). Final assembly by Bombardier incorporating there tilting train technologies took place in Barrie Vermont.
Remember, when you or the Government bid to buy a product, you can go with 20 year old open architecture or bid the latest proprietary technologie.
Don U. TCA 73-5735
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