Engine Installed in First Brightline Locomotive

Brightline has announced that it is celebrating another milestone in the building of its trains as the engine was installed into its first diesel-electric locomotive at the Siemens manufacturing facility in Sacramento, CA where the trains are being built. The Cummins QSK95 engine weighs 31,000 pounds. Installation took approximately six hours during which the engine was lowered into the locomotive by an overhead crane.

The fuel-efficient Cummins diesel engine, built in the heart of Indiana, will power the locomotive with 16 cylinders pumping up to 4,000 horsepower for optimum reliability and consistency. The lightweight engine is certified to meet the ultra-low emissions required by EPA Tier 4 standards, with additional benefits including reduced noise and the lowest fuel consumption.

Built as integrated trainsets, Brightline’s trains are comprised of two locomotives and four high quality stainless steel passenger cars. The trains can be extended to include up to 10 passenger cars as the system and ridership grows. The integration improves ride quality and makes for a much quieter ride. There will be a bright yellow locomotive on each end for high reliability. The locomotives will also feature an ergonomic cab design for the train’s engineers.

The 60-acre Siemens rail manufacturing plant is home to nearly 1,000 highly-skilled employees and sources up to 80 percent of its energy from two megawatts of solar energy. The plant recently completed a 125,000 square-foot expansion to help accommodate its growing production needs, including the manufacturing of Brightline’s trains. Siemens has also developed a robust and diverse base of U.S. rail suppliers to support the next-generation of rail manufacturing for Brightline including components from more than 40 suppliers across 20+ states with additional suppliers still being added. The company will also be performing maintenance on the Brightline trainsets, supporting full-time employment for 36 Siemens alongside 40 Brightline employees at Brightline’s maintenance facility in West Palm Beach, FL.

The first completed train set is expected to be delivered to Brightline later this year. Vertical construction is well underway on Brightline’s train stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach with service scheduled to begin in mid-2017.