A $352 million order for new passenger railcars meant for Amtrak routes in California and the Midwest had fallen years behind schedule as the builder struggled to meet requirements that the cars be made in the USA with domestic components, according to reports in April 2016.
The order
The Wall Street Journal reported that the maker of 130 new railcars, a Japanese company, was unlikely to finish before federal funding expired, Streetsblog USA said. The cars were to upgrade routes in California, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri.
About 75% of the cost came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Because the stimulus money was meant to help U.S. manufacturing, the cars had to be built in the USA with domestically sourced components. If the 2017 deadline was missed, unspent money would go back to the federal government, International Business Times reported.
A harder target than expected
“The intent is good, but 100% buy-American has been more of a challenge than we anticipated,” Bruce Roberts, rail and mass transportation chief for the California Department of Transportation, which oversaw the project, told the Journal.
The delays could leave states looking for other money to replace aging cars built in the 1970s and 1980s, the report said.
Source & credit
Source: International Business Times: “Amtrak Car Contracts Are Likely To Be Missed As Result Of USA Made Requirements”, April 2016.
Also: Streetsblog USA: “How Federal Rules Make It Harder to Build Trains in America”, April 12, 2016.