A Wilmington-based railroad start-up is continuing to push for Amtrak to replace its aging Amfleet passenger cars on the Northeast Corridor that runs from Washington, D.C. to Boston.
Early this year, AmeriStarRail’s Senior Advisor and former Amtrak president aul Reistrup sent a letter to Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose expressing safety concerns for continuing to operate the aging Amfleet cars at speeds up to 125 miles an hour on the Northeast Corridor since “no rail passenger service in North American railroad history has operated passenger train cars so old, so fast.” AmeriStarRail proposed replacing the nearly half-century-old cars with new equipment that is now scheduled to be deployed outside the Northeasat Corridor.
The Amtrak cars are maintained at the railroad’s shops in Bear. Amtrak employs about 1,000 in Delaware.
Amtrak is now appealing to the Amtrak board after receiving no response from executives of the railroad owned by the federal government.
Reistrup has been concerned that the Amfleet cars, while meeting current federal standards, is not as safe as the newest genreation of passenger cars now being built in New York state. He has pointed to a past fatal Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia as evidence of the need for the new generation of rolling stock.
AmeriStar Rail also wants to manage the Northeast Corridor for Amtrak and operate with all higher-speed Acela trains.
AmeriStar has proposed a meeting with federal safety officials regarding passenger car safety.
According to the letter, “AmeriStarRail’s solution offers equitable safety for the 70% of Northeast Corridor passengers who ride the aging Amfleet cars because they can’t afford to ride the newer Acela trainsets equipped with the latest safety technology.”
