The board of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has approved the acquisition of up to 18 ACS-64 electric locomotives from Siemens as part of its budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2015.
The contract includes an option for five additional locomotives and could be worth up to $154 million if all 18 units are ordered. The order will be SEPTA’s biggest investment in new rail vehicles since it signed a $ 254 million contract with Hyundai Rotem for 120 Silverliner V commuter EMU cars nearly a decade ago.
The locomotives will be almost identical to the fleet of 70 ACS-64 “Cities Sprinters” currently being delivered to Amtrak for intercity services on the Northeast Corridor from Boston to New York and Washington D.C.
Septa is due to receive its first ACS-64s in 2018. The fleet will replace ageing AEM-7 and ALP-44 locomotives on Lansdale- Doylestown, Paoli-Thorndale and Wilmington-Newark (Del.) commuter services.
The SEPTA board also approved a number of other investments, including $29 million for a new station and 895-space parking lot at Lansdale, $20.2 million for the reconstruction of Levittown Station, and $8.3 million for the upgrading of Exton Station.
SEPTA’s 2015-16 operating budget has been set at $1.36 billion, including a subsidy of $658 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The budget does not include any plans for fare increases.