Indeed! Even up in the remote West Highland Line at Crianlarich the train splits into two one going to Oban and the other to Fort William/Mallaig. No one has to jump off the train to do the splitting/joining, thanks to the Scharfenberg or similar coupler. It is all done with a simple push of a button.
Exactly! All over - the trains leave London (or Manchester occasionally) paired and split enroute. It doesn't seem to be limited to a particular make or model either. They do it with Hitachis, Stadlers and Bombardiers of all types - diesel, electric, both. Where I can see this being a problem for Amtrak is that each section will have a cafe (when food service is offered) and that's double the staff.
This would be the case in France with two TGV trains operating together. There is no way to pass between the two trains. Not sure how it would work with these trains. But if ridership is higher because there is more options, than it would not be a problem to have two snack cars.
What kind of Pistols will the "duel" modes carry?
I witnessed a similar situation on the TGV.
This is not really a problem. Just equip every unit with a transation coupler that allows the unit to couple to a standard coupler.Now, in fairness, the process is made much easier because the European passenger railroads use scharfenberg couplers that connect brake and electric lines automatically. Switching to something similar could drastically improve locomotive change times... but Amtrak would lose the ability to call a freight locomotive to the rescue... which they seem to do once a day.
The short answer is yes. They would be suitable for the short runs into Virginia, etc., off the NEC. They've also recently introduced a hybrid model, which runs somewhat like a hybrid car, with diesel engines charging batteries for use in areas where diesel might be restricted. There is also now a hydrogen model, recently sold to a commuter agency in California.
railway-news.com
Virginia's governor today gave a press conference about expanding Amtrak service into his state. I wonder if operating more trains would encourage Amtrak to operate lighter trainsets instead of heavy, locomotive-hauled trains.The short answer is yes. They would be suitable for the short runs into Virginia, etc., off the NEC. They've also recently introduced a hybrid model, which runs somewhat like a hybrid car, with diesel engines charging batteries for use in areas where diesel might be restricted. There is also now a hydrogen model, recently sold to a commuter agency in California.
Stadler Wins FLIRT H2 Hydrogen Train Contract in the US | Railway-News
Stadler has won its first contract for a hydrogen train, the FLIRT H2. The SBCTA will operate the train on the Redlands Passenger Rail line.
Whether Amtrak would actually consider any of them has been debated here several times.
The question that remains is whether Amtrak wants two NE fleets in addition to the next-gen Acelas. The FLIRT sets would be fine replacements for Amfleet NE Regional trains operating in the NEC, Keystone corridor and possibly into Virginia. However, I don't see them running in the Empire corridor west of Albany, sharing tracks with freight trains, nor on the Pennsylvanian for that matter. If they're going to pick one style it's going to be "heavy, locomotive-hauled trains". (As has been mentioned before as well, New York will buy what New York wants for the Empire Corridor.)
Are you implying Amtrak operating Regional trains with both a Sprinter and Charger locomotive? I think that this would increase wear and tear on the tracks.
That's not the "AU way"...Can't we just wait and see what happens?
I wonder if Amtrak orders Venture Coach or Stadler trainsets if these new trains would or would not have Cafe Cars? For example, most Regional trains currently have eight coaches which include one Cafe Car. But, perhaps future trainsets would only have seven coaches--without a Cafe Car?
During the Gunn years Regionals were four and five cars, while the rest of the fleet was parked in Wilmington and Bear awaiting funds for POH to put them back in service.
