Siemens Venture

Siemens Venture is a brand of locomotive-hauled railroad passenger cars built by Siemens Mobility. They are based off the earlier Siemens Viaggio Comfort railcars in use in Europe, but adapted for the North American market. The cars entered service with Virgin Trains USA (at the time named Brightline) in 2018. Railcars are currently on order for the US states of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri for use on their state-supported corridors operated by Amtrak and Canada's Via Rail for use on its Québec City–Windsor Corridor.

Siemens Venture
Siemens Venture railcar outside of the manufacturing facility in Florin, California
The interior of a Siemens Venture trainset operated by Virgin Trains USA in Miami.
ManufacturerSiemens Mobility
Built atFlorin, California
Number under construction
  • Amtrak California: 7 trainsets (49 cars)
  • Amtrak Midwest: 88 cars
  • Via Rail: 32 trainsets (160 cars)
Number in service
  • Virgin Trains USA: 5 trainsets (20 cars)
Specifications
Car length85 ft (26 m)
Width10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Height14 ft (4.3 m)
Platform height
  • Level boarding: 48 in (1,200 mm)
  • Step boarding: 8 in (200 mm)
Entry
  • Level boarding (Virgin Trains USA)
  • Level and step boarding (all other variants)
Maximum speed125 mph (201 km/h)
Coupling systemJanney Type H Tightlock
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Notes
[1][2][3]

History

The Venture trainsets came in response to an order from a 2014 order from All Aboard Florida for its new Brightline (now Virgin Trains USA) corridor service. All Aboard Florida purchased five trainsets of four passenger coaches along with ten Siemens Charger SCB-40 diesel-electric locomotives which will be placed on each end of a trainset.

The design studio, the LAB at Rockwell Group, was contracted to adapt the design for the North American market.[4]

The trainsets were based off the Siemens Viaggio Comfort trainsets used in Europe. They were built at the Siemens factory in Florin, California starting in July 2015 and the first trainset was completed in December 2016.[5] Public operations began on 13 January 2018.[6][7]

In November 2017, the state of California (representing a coalition of states including California, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri) announced that it would be ordering 137 Venture railcars through its contractor Sumitomo Corporation.[8] The states had initially contracted Sumitomo, which in turn subcontracted with Nippon Sharyo, to build the Next Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Car, but a prototype car failed a buff strength test in August 2015. After the test failure, canceled its deal with Nippon Sharyo, and turned to Siemens to be the new subcontractor. The order includes 49 cars for California, formed into seven semi-permanently-coupled trainsets and 54 cars for the Midwest states, formed into 34 married pairs and 20 single coaches.[9] Similarly to Railjet, these cars will be hauled by an existing fleet of locomotives, this time the Siemens Charger SC-44 diesel-electric locomotive. The first three cars were completed in February 2020 and went into testing. The first trainset is supposed to go into revenue service in July 2020.[10]

On December 12, 2018, Canada's national passenger rail service operator, Via Rail announced that it was purchasing 32 Venture trainsets to replace the entire fleet used on its Québec City–Windsor Corridor.[11] Each new trainset will consist of a five passenger coaches (one equipped with driver's compartment) paired with a Siemens Charger SCB-40 diesel-electric locomotive.[12] The first trainset is to be delivered for testing by winter 2021, with the first sets in service by 2022 and all trains in service by 2024.

Trainsets

Most Siemens Venture railcars are configured into semi-permanently coupled trainsets with open gangway-style connections between cars but with standard couplers on the outer ends of the trainset for connecting the trainset to locomotives or other railway equipment. The Amtrak Midwest equipment is an exception, and is divided into smaller semi-permanently coupled married pairs that can be assembled into a trainset using conventional AAR couplers.[2]

Virgin Trains USA trainsets

A Virgin Trains USA trainset consists of four semi-permanently-coupled coaches: three coaches with "Smart" economy seating and one with "Select" premium seating. Each trainset is paired with a Siemens Charger SCB-40 diesel-electric locomotive on each end.[13] Once the route to Orlando is in operation, the trainsets will be expanded to seven coaches, and five more complete trainsets will be purchased.[14][15]

The "Select" coaches offers 2x1 and four-to-a-table seating with 50 21-inch (530 mm)-wide seats per car and complimentary snacks and beverages, while the slightly less expensive "Smart" fare coaches seat 66 with narrower 19-inch (480 mm)-wide seats, with snacks and beverages available for purchase.[16][17] Each trainset is able to hold 248 passengers.[18]

Amtrak San Joaquins trainsets

The California Department of Transportation has ordered seven trainsets for the San Joaquins service with seven cars each: four coaches with economy seating, two coaches with economy seating and vending machines, and one cab car (control car) with economy seating. The order includes 49 cars for California, formed into seven semi-permanently-coupled trainsets. Since Siemens Venture trainsets were originally designed to be used with high platforms, two cars per trainset will have built-in wheelchair lifts in order to maintain accessibility with the low platforms used in California. The cab car and two other cars per trainset will have one vestibule per car, while the remaining cars will have two vestibules each.[19]

Amtrak Midwest trainsets

The US states of Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri have ordered 88 cars to be used on their passenger rail corridors: Blue Water, Illini/Saluki, Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pere Marquette, and Wolverine, collectively called "Amtrak Midwest."

Uniquely among Siemens Venture trainsets, the Midwest trains will be made up of married pairs (two coaches semi-permanently coupled with open gangway-style connections) and 20 individual coaches with traditional gangway connections. The married pairs will consist of 17 café cars mated to 17 economy seating coaches and 17 combination "business class"/economy coaches mated to 17 economy seating coaches. The business class and cafe cars will have two vestibules each, while the coaches will have one.[19] The unique design will allow trainsets to be sized to meet the travel demands of the individual corridors and allow business class seating and café car services to be added or removed.

Via Rail trainsets

Via Rail trainsets will consists of five individual coaches: two coaches with "business class" premium seating, two coaches with economy seating, and one cab car (control car) with economy seating.[12] Each trainset will be paired with a single Siemens Charger SCB-40 diesel-electric locomotive on one end.[12]

  • Exterior of a Brightline (now Virgin Trains USA) Siemens Venture coach
  • Brightline (now Virgin Trains USA) trainset
  • Low-platform boarding door on Siemens Venture coach built for San Joaquins service

References
  1. Siemens Mobility (July 2016). "Brightline Passenger Coaches and PRIIA-Specification" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. Next Generation Equipment Committee (February 2018). "Caltrans/ IDOT New Single-Level Passenger Railcars "CALIDOT"" (pptx). Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. Next Generation Equipment Committee (February 2019). "Caltrans/ IDOT New Single-Level Passenger Railcars "CALIDOT"" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 November 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
  4. Trejos, Nancy (November 9, 2015). "New Florida train service to whisk passengers between Miami and Orlando". USA Today.
  5. Hurtibise, Ron (December 14, 2016). "First All Aboard Florida train finished and ready for testing".
  6. "Happy rails to you: Brightline high-speed trains roll into action". my Palm Beach Post. January 13, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  7. "Brightline slates fares and service date". Railway Age. January 11, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  8. "Caltrans Amends Multimillion Dollar, Multi-State Railcar Contract" (Press release). Caltrans. November 8, 2017.
  9. Siemens Mobility (February 22, 2019). "Caltrans/ IDOT New Single-Level Passenger Railcars: 'CALIDOT'" (PDF). Next Generation Equipment Committee - 2019 Annual Meeting. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  10. Gradinger, Kyle; Tamaoki, Momoko (February 21, 2020). "Multi-state Single Level Rail Cars Procurement Updates" (PDF). California Department of Transportation Division of Rail and Mass Transportation. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  11. "Via Rail Selects Siemens Canada to Replace its Quebec-Windsor Corridor Fleet". Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  12. "VIA Rail New Corridor Fleet" (PDF). Via Rail / Next Generation Equipment Committee. February 21, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  13. "Brightline unveils Siemens locomotives and coaches". Railway Gazette. London. June 8, 2016.
  14. "All Aboard Florida Selects Siemens as Train Manufacturer" (Press release). All Aboard Florida. September 11, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. Brinkmann, Paul (September 11, 2014). "Siemens to build All Aboard Florida trains". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  16. "Brightline train service begins in South Florida". WFTV 9. January 11, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  17. "Trains". Brightline. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  18. Roustan, Wayne K. (May 19, 2018). "All aboard as Brightline launches fast train service to Miami". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  19. Siemens Mobility (February 22, 2019). "Caltrans/ IDOT New Single-Level Passenger Railcars: 'CALIDOT'" (PDF). Next Generation Equipment Committee - 2019 Annual Meeting. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Siemens Venture trainsets product website

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