December 17, 2020
MTA vote could open way for new trains upstate
The Albany Times Union is reporting that: "The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expected to approve a contract for at least 19 new locomotives from Siemens Mobility Inc. when it meets Wednesday, opening the way for other agencies, including the New York State Department of Transportation, to exercise their options to purchase their own locomotives to replace equipment operating beyond its expected life span... The state DOT option for 26 so-called dual mode locomotives would allow it to replace a fleet of aging General Electric locomotives purchased in the 1990s. DOT's dual mode locomotives are designed to operate either with diesel power or with electric power drawn from a third rail, which they use to travel through the tunnels into New York City's Penn Station without emitting diesel exhaust."