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Siemens Charger
The Siemens Charger is a family of diesel-electric/ dual-mode passenger locomotives designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. There are five variants of the Charger, tailored for different operators and types of service: ALC-42 for Amtrak long-distance service, ALC-42E dual mode for Amtrak inter-city and long-distance routes that serve the Northeast Corridor, SC-44 for Amtrak state-supported inter-city service or commuter rail operators, SCB-40 for Brightline inter-city service and SCV-42 for VIA Rail inter-city service in Canada. The first production Charger, an SC-44, was unveiled on March 26, 2016, and entered revenue service on August 24, 2017. It was followed by the SCB-40, which inaugurated Brightline service on January 13, 2018. The first ALC-42 was delivered to Amtrak on June 17, 2021, and entered revenue service on February 8, 2022, on the ''Empire Builder''. The Charger is often paired with Venture passenger cars, also built by S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caltrans
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacramento, California, Sacramento. Caltrans manages the state's State highways in California, highway system, which includes the California Freeway and Expressway System, supports public transportation systems throughout the state and provides funding and oversight for three state-supported Amtrak intercity rail routes (''Capitol Corridor'', ''Pacific Surfliner'' and ''San Joaquins'') which are collectively branded as ''Amtrak California''. In 2015, Caltrans released a new mission statement: "Provide a safe, sustainable, integrated and efficient transportation system to enhance California's economy and livability." History The earliest predecessor of Caltrans was the Bureau of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Current
Direct current (DC) is one-directional electric current, flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor (material), conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, electrical insulation, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron beam, electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A archaism, term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current. The abbreviations ''AC'' and ''DC'' are often used to mean simply ''alternating'' and ''direct'', as when they modify ''Electric current, current'' or ''voltage''. Direct current may be converted from an alternating current supply by use of a rectifier, which contains Electronics, electronic elements (usually) or electromechanical elements (historically) that allow current to flow only in one direction. Direct current may be converted into alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siemens Venture
Siemens Venture is a type of locomotive-hauled passenger railroad car built by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. The cars are derived from the Siemens Viaggio Comfort cars used in Europe, with adaptations for North American operations. The cars entered service with Brightline in 2018 and with Amtrak Midwest (services funded by Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin) in 2022. They have also been ordered by Amtrak for national and other state-supported routes (including those in California, Washington (state), Washington, Oregon, New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, and Vermont), Via Rail, and Ontario Northland Railway, Ontario Northland. The Venture cars will also be used on Amtrak’s Airo trainsets. History The Venture dates back to 2014 when All Aboard Florida (now Brightline) purchased five trainsets for its new Brightline service along with ten Siemens Charger SCB-40 diesel-electric locomotives. The pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empire Builder
The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northern Railway and was retained by Amtrak when it took over intercity rail service in 1971. The end-to-end travel time of the route is 45–46 hours for an average speed of about , though the train travels as fast as over the majority of the route. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route. During fiscal year 2023, the ''Empire Builder'' carried 338,993 passengers, an increase of 15.0% from FY2022 but 21.8% below pre-COVID-19 levels (433,372 passengers during FY2019). During FY2022, the train had a total revenue of $49,600,000. History The Great Northern Railway inaugurated the ''Empire Builder'' on June 10, 1929. It was named in honor of the company's founder, James J. Hill, who had reorganized several failing railroads into th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Via Rail
Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight Canadian provinces and of track, 97 percent of which is owned and maintained by other railway companies, mostly by Canadian National Railway (CN). Via Rail carried approximately 4.1 million passengers in 2023, 96 percent of which were along the '' Corridor'' routes connecting the major cities of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, and had an on-time performance of 85.4 per cent. Attracting international tourism forms an important part of Via Rail's long distance trans-continental services. History Background Yearly passenger levels on Canada's passenger trains peaked at 60 million during World War II. Following the war, the growth of air travel and the personal automobile caused significant loss of mode share for Canada's pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brightline
Brightline (reporting mark BLFX) is an intercity rail route in the United States that runs between Miami and Orlando, Florida. Part of the route runs on track owned and shared by the Florida East Coast Railway. Brightline is the only privately owned and operated intercity passenger railroad in the United States. Its development started in March 2012 as All Aboard Florida by Florida East Coast Industries, a Floridian real estate developer owned by Fortress Investment Group. Construction began in November 2014 and the route began revenue service in January 2018, initially between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; the Miami to Fort Lauderdale segment began revenue service in May of that year. Infill stations at Aventura and Boca Raton opened in December 2022, and the West Palm Beach to Orlando segment began revenue service in September 2023. Additional stops are being planned for the route. Brightline's maximum operating speed is . Trains cover the route in 3 hours and 25 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C., in the south, with major stops in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven, Stamford, Connecticut, Stamford, New York City, Newark, New Jersey, Newark, Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington, and Baltimore. The NEC is roughly paralleled by Interstate 95 for most of its length. Carrying more than 2,200 trains a day, it is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency. The corridor is used by many Amtrak trains, including the high-speed ''Acela'' (formerly ''Acela Express''), intercity trains, and several Long-distance Amtrak routes, long-distance trains. Most of the corridor also has frequent Commuter rail in North America, commuter rail service, operated by the MBTA Commuter Rail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inter-city Rail
Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance commuter rail trains within one city area nor slow regional rail trains stopping at all stations and covering local journeys only. An inter-city train is typically an express train with limited stops and comfortable carriages to serve long-distance travel. Inter-city rail sometimes provides international services. This is most prevalent in Europe because of the proximity of its 50 countries to a 10,180,000-square-kilometre (3,930,000-square-mile) area. Eurostar and EuroCity are examples. In many European countries, the word InterCity or Inter-City is an official brand name for a network of regular-interval and relatively long-distance train services that meet certain criteria of speed and comfort. That use of the term appeared in the United ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-distance Amtrak Routes
The Long Distance Service Line is the division of Amtrak responsible for operating all intercity passenger train services in the United States longer than . There are fourteen such routes , serving over 300 stations in 39 states. Amtrak's long-distance routes form the backbone of the US national rail network, providing an alternative to intercity drives or flights. They are also noted for their scenery, and are popular as vacations and experiential travel. A few routes provide direct service to List of national parks of the United States, National Parks, with Amtrak Thruway buses reaching many more. The rider experience of Amtrak's long-distance trains is distinct from its Northeast Corridor and state-supported services. All trains except the involve at least one night of travel, and so are outfitted with sleeping cars, sleeping and dining cars. Routes depart once daily in each direction, at most, so some stops are served only at night. Delays are commonplace on long-distance tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locomotive
A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight trains, companies are increasingly using distributed power: single or multiple locomotives placed at the front and rear and at intermediate points throughout the train under the control of the leading locomotive. Etymology The word ''locomotive'' originates from the Latin language, Latin 'from a place', Ablative case, ablative of 'place', and the Medieval Latin 'causing motion', and is a shortened form of the term ''locomotive engine'', which was first used in 1814 to distinguish between self-propelled and stationary steam engines. Classifications Prior to locomotives, the motive force for railways had been generated by various lower-technology methods such as human power, horse power, Gravity railroad, g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System
Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System (ACSES) is a positive train control cab signaling system developed by Alstom. The system is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, protect against overspeed, and protect work crews with temporary speed restrictions. The information about permanent and temporary speed restrictions is transmitted to the train by transponders ( Balises) lying in the track, coded track circuits and digital radio. It was installed beginning in 2000 on all of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (except MTA territory) between Washington and Boston, and has been fully active since December 2015, a few months after the 2015 Philadelphia train derailment which it would have prevented. General system design ACSES provides railway trains with positive enforcement of "civil" speed restrictions (those based on the physical characteristics of the line). The on-board components keep track of a train's position and continuously calculates a maximum safe braking curve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positive Train Control
Positive train control (PTC) is a family of automatic train protection systems deployed in the United States. Most of the United States' national rail network mileage has a form of PTC. These systems are generally designed to check that trains are moving safely and to stop them when they are not. Positive train control restricts the train movement to an explicit allowance; movement is halted upon invalidation. A train operating under PTC receives a ''movement authority'' containing information about its location and where it is allowed to safely travel. PTC was installed and operational on 100% of the statutory-required trackage by December 29, 2020. Overview The American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) describes positive train control systems as having these primary functions: * Train separation or collision avoidance * Line speed enforcement * Temporary speed restriction enforcement * Rail worker wayside safety * Blind spot monitoring History ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
