Siemens Charger

The Siemens Charger is a family of diesel-electric passenger locomotive designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. Three models are being produced: the base SC-44 locomotive designed to haul traditional passenger cars in inter-city rail service, the SCB-40 locomotive designed to pair with the Siemens Viaggio Comfort passenger car trainset in inter-city rail service, and the ALC-42 locomotive designed to haul traditional passenger cars in long distance rail service.

The first production SC-44 unit was unveiled on March 26, 2016. The first SC-44 unit went into Amtrak revenue service on August 24, 2017, followed by the SCB-40, which inaugurated Brightline service on January 13, 2018.

Design
The Charger is powered by a Cummins 16-cylinder QSK95 4-stroke high speed diesel engine, which is designed to meet EPA Tier IV emissions standards that took effect in 2015. Power output varies by model; the SCB-40 produces , while the SC-44 produces .

The top speed in service as per PRIIA specifications is . The locomotive shares much of its overall design with Siemens' all-electric locomotives Vectron used in Europe and the ACS-64 used by Amtrak and SEPTA. Four Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power inverters carry electric current to each of the four AC traction motors. A static inverter off of the main prime mover supplies head-end power (HEP). The locomotive also features dynamic braking with regenerative capability, allowing the locomotive to divert power generated by dynamic braking away from the resistor grids to HEP and onboard locomotive auxiliary power demands.

In response to a 2013 Request for Information from Metro-North Railroad, Siemens said they might produce a dual-mode variant of the Charger with onboard energy storage for use by Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road, as well as intercity service on Amtrak's Empire Corridor.

California units have an aerodynamic spoiler on the rear roof that matches the height of bi-level California and Surfliner cars.

Service history

The first production SC-44 unit was unveiled on March 26, 2016. The first two Charger locomotives to leave Siemens' factory in Florin, California were transported to the Transportation Technology Center (TTCI) in Pueblo, Colorado in June 2016 and underwent testing of performance metrics such as acceleration and braking. The first Brightline SCB-40 locomotives were delivered in December 2016 to undergo testing in Florida. 

In February 2017, Amtrak and WSDOT began testing one of the Midwest-bound locomotives for federal certification along the Cascades corridor in the Pacific Northwest. Test runs were conducted on the Midwest and Northern California routes in April and May. Testing at up to  at TTCI, on the corridors, and on the Northeast Corridor in September 2016 resulted in a federal certification for  operations.

Revenue testing on the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquins routes in Northern California began on May 25, 2017. During these tests, the trains operated with a second locomotive in case of failure. The Northern California units were formally accepted and approved for solo service on October 23, 2017. The SC-44 entered revenue testing on the Midwest routes in July 2017, with solo revenue service beginning on a Hiawatha Service train on August 24, 2017. Revenue service on the Cascades route began in November 2017. 

On December 18, 2017, Washington state SC-44 #1402 was wrecked in a derailment of a Cascades train on the Point Defiance Bypass.

Brightline began revenue operations with its SCB-40 locomotives on January 13, 2018. The first Chargers for MARC began testing that month, and revenue service began on April 5, 2018. Pre-revenue testing began on the Pacific Surfliner in October 2018; revenue service began later that year.

Customers

Altamont Corridor Express
California regional commuter line Altamont Corridor Express ordered four SC-44 locomotives in April 2018, with deliveries expected to begin in December 2019.

Amtrak
Amtrak has ordered 75 Chargers, to be designated the ALC-42, to replace the aging GE Genesis on long-distance services. The order was placed on December 21, 2018, and Amtrak has an option to purchase up to 100 additional locomotives under the contract. The first of these locomotives is expected to enter service in 2021, with the order completed in 2024. The ALC-42 variant of the Charger will look very similar to the SC-44, but with some changes to make it better suited to long-distance services, including more onboard positive train control systems, a larger diesel fuel tank ( instead of ), a larger diesel exhaust fluid tank, and a larger sand tank.

Amtrak state-supported corridors

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), in conjunction with its counterparts in California, Michigan, Missouri and Washington, purchased 32 SC-44 locomotives for state-supported corridor services, operated by Amtrak under contract.

The $225 million order placed in March 2014 included options for an additional 75 corridor-configured locomotives In 2015, IDOT ordered 12 additional units for use on the upgraded Lincoln Service corridor. California ordered 14 additional units in November 2015 for use on the Pacific Surfliner beginning in 2018, plus an additional 2 units in 2016 for the Northern California services. Several additional units were later added, for a total of 63 locomotives (32 base order and 39 option order): 22 for California, 8 for Washington state, and 33 for the Midwest states.

COASTER
In June 2018, the North County Transit District Board of Directors approved the purchase of five SC-44s for its San Diego-area COASTER commuter rail service. Deliveries are expected to begin in August 2020 and conclude in the spring of 2021. In 2019, the Board approved the purchase of two additional units (pending funding) to allow increased service levels.

MARC
MARC announced in August 2015 that it was seeking $58 million to purchase eight locomotives to replace their aging electric powered AEM-7 units, with deliveries planned for late 2017. The purchase was approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works on September 16, 2015. The MARC order uses part of the Amtrak state-corridor options. The first MARC Charger was shipped from the Siemens factory in early December 2017, and began testing in mid-January 2018.

VIA Rail Canada
In December 2018, VIA Rail Canada ordered 32 bi-directional trainsets powered by SCB-40 locomotives from Siemens for use on the Québec City–Windsor Corridor.

Virgin Trains USA

In September 2014, Virgin Trains USA, then named Brightline, purchased ten SCB-40 locomotives with options for an additional eleven. The locomotives are used in pairs, bookending four passenger cars (expandable to seven) between MiamiCentral and Brightline West Palm Beach station, with a future expansion planned to Orlando International Airport Intermodal Terminal. The Brightline locomotives are built with a streamlined front end, concealing the front coupler behind doors, and produce a maximum of  instead of the  on the SC-44.

Possible future orders
In July 2018, Metro-North Rail Commuter Council’s vice chairman announced that the agency is considering purchasing 15 SC-44 locomotives to replace the current fleet of locomotives for the Port Jervis Line. Chargers are planned (but have not been purchased) for the Northern Lights Express, a proposed higher-speed passenger service in Minnesota.

See also
 EMD F125

References

Further reading

External links

Siemens Charger data sheet 
Raw Footage of Siemens Charger SC-44 4601 Cummins QSK95 Testing (YouTube)

Category:Siemens locomotives
Category:Bo-Bo locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 2014
Category:EPA Tier 4-compliant locomotives of the United States
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada