Talking Transportation 2024
Maybe by 2026, Amtrak Riders Will Be Getting a Whiff of That New Train Car Smell
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Don’t you just love that “new car smell”? Well, that’s coming — slowly — to Amtrak, as the nation’s passenger railroad replaces its old fleet of cars. Goodbye, Amfleet
Amtrak’s remaining fleet of almost 600 Amfleet cars date back to the 1970s and was modeled after the Budd Company’s successful Metroliner cars, which ran from 1969 to 2006. Some of those Amtfleet cars have traveled over four million miles by now so, despite maintenance and the $17 million “refresh” of their interiors in 2017, they are ripe for replacement. The round-sided stainless steel cars, mimicking an airplane, have smaller windows than what’s planned to replace them.