Passenger Cars Overview
Talgo Series VI – Amtrak Cascades® Service
In April 1994, Renfe-Talgo of America was awarded a contract by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to lease a Talgo trainset for operation in the Seattle, WA to Portland, OR corridor for six months.
In October of 1994, showcase runs of the Talgo rolling stock were performed for railway authorities and technical experts in Oregon, California, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Haven and Maine. The contract with WSDOT was also renewed to continue the lease of the Talgo TP 200 trainset in the Pacific Northwest corridor.
As the project proved to be very successful, in July of 1996, WSDOT and Amtrak placed an order to buy three new Talgo TPU™ trains (two WSDOT and one Amtrak) and to lease one additional train (Amtrak). These were assembled in Seattle using American workers and skills. The new Talgo's started service in January 1999 and are operated by Amtrak under the Amtrak Cascades brand name.
A fifth trainset was manufactured at the same time as the four previously mentioned. This trainset was scheduled to enter service between Los Angeles, CA and Las Vegas, NV in early 2001, but was sold to WSDOT in 2003 and is currently in use on the Eugene to Portland, Oregon Corridor.
So far, the operation of these trainsets has been a tremendous success. Ridership has continued to increase, travelling times have been significantly reduced, and the entire corridor has been revitalized. In 2009, Amtrak Cascades celebrated their 10 year anniversary and has carried more than six million passengers since 1999.
The success of the Pacific Northwest Project is the result of a good partnership experience among Talgo, Amtrak, WSDOT and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (the owner of the track). From the Talgo side, the key for success has been the design of the trains, including the many amenities available, such a individual electric outlets for laptops, wheelchair lifts on ADA cars, individual audio-video outlets; the quality of the ride and the great reliability that is assured by the application of Talgo's integral maintenance system.
Talgo Series VII Passenger Coaches
Talgo’s passenger coaches offer state of the art technology with the highest comfort and amenities for the passenger. A Talgo trainset is made up of a succession of coaches linked by means of articulated unions. The high dynamic performance qualities of the Talgo trains, the simplicity of its design, its maintenance and its capacity to be hauled by any type of locomotive, either on high speed or conventional tracks allows for a very versatile and highly profitable commercial venture. The coach type and configuration can be adjusted based upon customer needs.
The Talgo Series VII Passenger Coaches are currently available in the European Marketplace. Please refer to www.talgo.com for further information.
Talgo Series 8 Passenger Coaches
Talgo is pleased to introduce his latest North American offering,Talgo Series 8 passenger cars. Similar to the Series VII passenger cars in appearance as well as car types; the Series 8 is fully FRA compliant. What this compliance means to you, is that our lightweight aluminum body cars have increased structural strength to meet the stringent end strength and compression collision requirements of the FRA for unrestricted service anywhere in the United States.
Standard options provide configurations with up to 600 seats.The cars and trains can be configured in many ways so as to meet your needs.
Talgo Inc. US Corporate Office