Amtrak and its partners at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have begun construction work on a new maintenance facility for Airo trains at Sunnyside Yard, Long Island City, New York.
The project will prepare the infrastructure for the introduction of the new Airo trains and modernise the maintenance operations that support millions of rail journeys each year in the north-east of the United States.
The new facility will be brought into service in phases by 2030 and will enable daily inspections, maintenance, cleaning and preparation of trains for commercial service. The investment aims to reduce downtime and speed up maintenance operations.
The project involves the construction of a new facility with two tracks for complex maintenance and inspections, as well as six new tracks for servicing and cleaning operations. In addition, 11 existing platforms used for preparing trains and storing trains not in service will be modernised.
The works also involve the reorganisation of staff facilities, materials storage and car parks, as well as the modernisation of the railway infrastructure within the depot. This includes the reconfiguration of two major track layouts and the connections between Sunnyside Yard and the Northeast Corridor.
A USD billion investment
The combined value of the investment in the new maintenance facility, staff base and modernisation of the platforms exceeds one billion USD, with funding provided primarily through federal grants administered by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
The facility is specifically designed to support the introduction of the new Amtrak Airo trains, which will replace railcars that have been in service for over 50 years. The new trains are designed to offer a higher level of accessibility and comfort, as well as improved reliability.
The investment will benefit millions of passengers using services on the East Coast and other routes operated or supported by Amtrak. These include the Northeast Regional, Empire Service, Keystone Service, Maple Leaf, Vermonter, Ethan Allen Express, Adirondack, Carolinian and Palmetto.
The Airo trains are manufactured by Siemens Mobility under a contract worth USD 7.3 billion, signed in 2022. Amtrak’s initial order comprised 73 trains, and in 2023 the operator exercised its option for a further ten units, bringing the total number of Airo trains ordered to 83.
At the same time, the new facility and the modernised platforms will be able to be used for the maintenance or stabling of NextGen Acela trains, long-distance services and commuter trains that use Sunnyside Yard.
Sunnyside Yard is the fifth and largest major maintenance facility project to have entered the construction phase in the last two years, following similar projects in Philadelphia, Seattle, Washington and Boston. A sixth major project, aimed at modernising Rensselaer Yard, is currently in the design phase.
The Sunnyside Yard project forms part of a wider programme to modernise Amtrak’s rolling stock and maintenance infrastructure. The programme includes over 20 projects to modernise depots and technical facilities across the network, which are necessary for the introduction of the new Airo trains.
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