Talgo offers a full package of maintenance services for the passenger rail equipment that we manufacture. Providing the maintenance program ensures that our customer receives outstanding maintenance as well as reducing the overall life cycle cost of the equipment.

Talgo, Inc. currently provides maintenance services for the Amtrak Cascades passenger cars. At present, this corridor has five Talgo trainsets in revenue service maintained by Talgo. The maintenance facility is located south of the King Street Station Train Depot in Seattle. Talgo provides a comprehensive maintenance plan. Talgo ensures that the maintenance plan is FRA compliant (49 CFR238). There are various levels of maintenance that are utilized for the trainsets. Talgo’s maintenance facility provides maintenance 365 days per year to ensure passenger safety, outstanding service reliability and availability.

Talgo has spent many years refining its maintenance plan. We look at a maintenance plan as a combination of the following items:

• Preventive Maintenance and FRA Daily and Periodic Inspections
  
  Talgo uses its philosophy of staggering preventive maintenance on the fleet across the periods of predetermined FRA regulatory requirements (i.e. Daily, 92 Day, 184 Day, 368 Day etc.). This philosophy allows Talgo to minimize the time out of service and spare fleet requirements. Our strategy focuses on minimizing train consist changes and keep the teams on value-added maintenance activities.
  
  To enhance our control of maintenance, Talgo utilizes a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to ensure that we know what work is necessary, and therefore plan our work accordingly. Work orders are released with a look-ahead period and the maintenance group manages this backlog on a daily basis.

• On Board Technicians (OBTs)
  
  Talgo offers unique and real time maintenance during train service via OBTs. On Board Technicians perform Preventive maintenance and immediate corrective action and reporting. The immediate service that they provide helps ensure continued passenger service.

• Corrective Maintenance
  
  Corrective maintenance is required for unsatisfactory inspections or by unexpected component or test failure. Talgo maintenance responds directly via onboard technicians (OBTs) or while the trainset is attended to in our Maintenance facility.
  
  Talgo also utilized (OBT) to perform in service train inspections and to provide immediate corrective maintenance. For those items that cannot be repaired in transit, they will be completed when the train is returned to the Talgo maintenance facility.

• Cleaning Services
  
  Talgo uses similar approach to interior and exterior cleaning services as we do to maintenance services. Talgo believes that cleaning is an important part of the process and highly noticeable to the passenger. Talgo’s approach to cleaning covers three primary areas. First, the daily equipment cleaning in the maintenance facility is planned and scheduled.
  
  Talgo’s Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is utilized to ensure periodic customer and FDA requirements are inspected, when appropriate sanitized, and completed per schedule.

• Predictive Maintenance/Condition Based Maintenance
  
  Talgo utilizes predictive maintenance to take appropriate maintenance action to maximize the life of the component.

• Back Shop Repairs
  
  Talgo provides or manages necessary back shop work for the maintained equipment.

• Overhauls and Modifications
  
  Talgo implements OEM required as well as customer driven value chain modifications. Modifications that have been recently accomplished that are visible to the passenger include trainset repainting, seat replacement (now with leather seats), and other interior upgrades.

• Incident Response/Wreck Repair
  
  Talgo working with Amtrak responds to incidents where the mechanical operation of the Amtrak Cascades trainsets is affected. In these unusual events, such as derailments or wrecks, a specialized team of Talgo personnel travel to the site of the incident to support the required actions to return the trainset to revenue service.

The Pacific Northwest Success Story

Pacific Northwest Facts

•     2nd most congested urban region for traffic delays per capita.
•     Growing at 9% per year
•     8 million people live near the corridor

Amtrak / WSDOT Actions

•     Obtain 5 High speed trains 64 cars + 3 spares
•     Design speed 120 mph; operational speed 79 mph
•     20 year full service maintenance contract
•     Partnership between Amtrak – WSDOT – BNSF- Talgo

What Talgo Trains and service provide

•     99% Availability
•     Reliability 100,000 Mean Miles Between Failures

Pacific Northwest Results
With the creation of 3 daily round trips on the Talgo Amtrak Cascades between Seattle and Portland, two extending to Eugene, OR, two daily trips to Bellingham, WA and one extending to Vancouver, B.C., the results are:

•     Reduced travel time by ½ an hour – now competitive with air and highway travel
•     Cascade ridership has Increased in excess of 375% (1994-2007)
•     Revenues have increased in excess of 575% since the introduction of the Talgo equipment
•     Customer satisfaction surveys indicate 84% of riders will ride again and 98% would recommend to family and friends

What’s going on in the Pacific Northwest can happen anywhere in the country. Talgo’s innovative lightweight, articulated, natural tilting trains have been a key player in the resurgence of intercity rail in the Pacific Northwest. By adopting the Talgo incremental rail method, you can expect:

•     Tilting trains that can go fast and work well with existing rail infrastructure
•     To experience fast gains in congestion relief – faster than more highways, bigger airports or dedicated steel or MagLev corridors
•     To spend less than any comparable highway or airport expansion