Amtrak has ordered 70 of the 6.4MW 200km/h locomotives from Siemens and the first units will enter service on the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York, and Washington DC in the autumn, with the remainder of the fleet due for delivery by 2016.
Two pre-series ACS-64s are at Pueblo for a series of tests, including running at up to 200km/h, acceleration and braking tests, and operation with Amtrak coaches. Amtrak says engineers are also validating the performance of onboard computer systems and software as well as ride quality.
A third locomotive is due to begin trials soon on the Northeast Corridor and the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg Pennsylvania, while a fourth will undergo climatic tests to evaluate performance in extreme temperatures.
