(The Times-Union posted the following article by Cathy Woodruff on its website on March 2.)
ALBANY, N.Y. — Production of high-speed trains intended to streamline Amtrak service between Rensselaer and New York City is headed for another slowdown unless engines and transmissions needed to complete the last four are supplied soon, the president of the company doing the work said Saturday.
Two of seven Turboliners being rebuilt by Super Steel Schenectady at its Glenville plant under a $74.4 million contract with New York state already have been delivered to Amtrak’s Rensselaer yard and tested, but the railroad has not yet put them into passenger service. A third is near completion, and Super Steel is scheduled to deliver the rest within the next year, President Scott Mintier said.
But the complex contract for reconditioning the 1970s-era trains and track improvements that would enable them to operate at high speeds calls for Amtrak to provide engines and transmissions for the last four, Mintier said. Amtrak is reneging on that part of its commitment because of its financial crisis, he said.
The national passenger rail service is receiving $1.05 billion in federal funding this year — close to the $1.2 billion it sought from Congress — but that leaves little for expenses beyond running and maintaining existing trains and tracks.
“Right now, I’m working around it,” but the lack of key components complicates production and soon will create delays if not resolved, Mintier said.
He discussed the progress on the Turboliners — and his frustration that the first two are not yet carrying passengers — during a break in the annual meeting of the Empire State Passengers Association, a group of rail riders and advocates, at the Mohawk Club in Schenectady’s Stockade section.
State Department of Transportation and Amtrak representatives at the meeting declined to comment in detail on the project, except to say they are optimistic that the first two trains will be making regular runs soon.
The Turboliners are the centerpiece of a high-speed rail program announced by Gov. George Pataki in September 1998, and the trains were supposed to be in service by early 2001, cutting the trip between Rensselaer and New York City by about 20 minutes.
Because each Turboliner has two locomotives — one at each end — each train needs two new engines and two reconditioned transmissions, Mintier said.
He said Super Steel has the equipment to complete one locomotive on the fourth train but lacks the wherewithal to finish the second. “I have no engine. I needed it last week,” he said.
The cost of engines and transmissions for the remaining Turboliners would be between $4.5 million and $5 million, based on Super Steel’s estimates.
Mintier said he hopes DOT and Amtrak will come up with an alternative plan for supplying the engines and transmissions and paying for them quickly.
“My position is: you give me the money, and I’ll buy them,” he said, “but I’m not going to be their bank.”
Meanwhile, Passengers Association members peppered DOT and Amtrak officials with questions about how soon the Turboliners will be ready.
After a Jan. 6 meeting with Amtrak President David Gunn, transportation Commissioner Joseph Boardman said he expected the first two trains to be running within three months.
Amtrak has cited a lack of spare parts, catalogs and maintenance manuals when expressing reservations about launching regular Turboliner service.
Mintier said parts catalogs had been delivered in the last month and the manuals have been sent, but, “the spare parts thing is somewhat curious. I’m the vendor. I have a factory full of parts and I can make a part immediately.”
Other wrinkles disrupting Super Steel’s production schedule include Amtrak’s delay in delivering the seventh train to Glenville and its reluctance to formally accept the second train, which is required to release a $500,000 payment to Super Steel, Mintier said.
“Neither DOT nor Amtrak seems to be able to move at the speed of business,” he said.