USA: Swiss plant manufacturer Matisa is ready to deliver a novel track renewals train to Amtrak to support work to modernise the US national passenger operator’s upgrading of the 735 km Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington DC.
Matisa says the diesel-powered P95 machine will be the first of its type that it has supplied to the USA. Ordered in January 2022, the machine is now ready to be shipped down the River Rhein to Antwerpen, from where it will be moved by sea to Baltimore for onward transfer to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado. There, it will undergo certification trials and dynamic testing in partnership with Amtrak work crews.
The machine is an evolution of the P95 design which has been used by infrastructure managers and maintenance contractors
The train works in a highly mechanised fashion to remove life expired rails, sleepers and fastenings. The ballast underneath is then tamped and levelled, before new or refurnished sleepers, rails and fastenings are laid by the rear portion of the train. Longitudinal gantries move the sleepers using guides mounted on the side of the train. The machine’s working speed is up to 600 m/h, which the supplier says is well-suited to increasingly short overnight track possessions. The train is 118 m long, weighs 375 tonnes and its diesel powerpacks meet US Tier 4 emissions regulations.
Compared with the standard P95 formation, the Amtrak variant has an additional fastener loading wagon and a materials and measurement wagon. It is also equipped with a combined boom and extractor to handle damaged sleepers and an enhanced working module for heavier and taller sleepers. Other features include an automated tool to remove Pandrol Fastclip fastenings, an equivalent manual tool for handling e-clips, and a rail heater. The lateral displacement of the work unit is up to 200 mm, while the level of lift and cant between the old and new track can be up to 50 mm.
