Caltrans Selects Alstom to Overhaul MK California Car Fleet

Alstom on August 7 reported that it has been selected by Caltrans to renovate all 66 bi-level intercity passenger vehicles from its California car fleet.

The Caltrans fleet was manufactured by Morrison Knudsen in Hornell, NY - an Alstom facility since 1998, between 1994 and 1997. The fleet of vehicles is comprised of four distinctive car types - cab, trailer, coach and food service cars.

The Caltrans fleet of vehicles are operated and maintained by Amtrak, on the "San Joaquin Corridor" from Oakland to Bakersfield, and the "Capitol Corridor" going from Sacramento to San Jose - the third busiest Amtrak operated route in the nation. The fleet operates at speeds of up to 79 miles per hour on 350 miles of track, serving over 30 stations, with a yearly ridership in excess of 2 million passengers.

The contract worth USD13.1 million includes for 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 service, at the Alstom's new Train Life Services (TLS) facility located in Mare Island, California.

This facility of 112,000 square feet is approximately 60 miles from Caltrans headquarters, located in Sacramento, California. With an opening planned for October 2009, it will provide a variety of services, including, wreck repairs, vehicles sub-systems overhauls, and will be the distribution center for parts for the West Coast. Mare Island will be a maintenance facility on the West Coast capable of offering such capabilities.

According to a release, Caltrans chose Alstom due to its past on-time and on-budget performance on wreck repairs on various types of passenger vehicles.

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