Caltrans has picked Alstom to renovate 66 bi-level intercity passenger vehicles from its California car fleet. The Caltrans fleet was manufactured by Morrison Knudsen in Hornell, N.Y., between 1994 and 1997. The Hornell facility is now an Alstom facility.
The fleet is comprised of four car types - cab, trailer, coach and food service cars. The Caltrans fleet of vehicles is operated and maintained by Amtrak on the San Joaquin Corridor from Oakland to Bakersfield, and the Capitol Corridor from Sacramento to San Jose - the third-busiest Amtrak-operated route in the nation.
The $13.1 million contract includes the complete replacement of the door systems and upgrade of the wheelchair lifts, as well as the wreck repair of one car. The work will be performed over a two-year period, without disrupting the daily rail service, at Alstom's new Train Life Services (TLS) facility in Mare Island, Calif.
That facility of 112,000 square feet is approximately 60 miles from Caltrans headquarters in Sacramento. With an opening planned for October 2009, the Mare Island facility will provide a wide range of services, including wreck repairs, and vehicle sub-system overhauls, and will be the distribution center for parts for the West Coast.