According to an article in the Washington Post, Amtrak is unveiling the first of 70 new locomotives at a plant in California, it will mark what the national passenger railroad service hopes will be a new era of better reliability, streamlined maintenance and better energy efficiency.

The new engines will be manufactured at Siemens’ factory in Florin, California, with traction and electrical equipment being manufactured at Siemens facilities in Norcross and Alpharetta, Georgia.  The locomotives are designed to be capable of accelerating 18 Amfleet cars to maximum speeds as high as 125 mph (201 km/h) on the Northeast Corridor in a little over eight minutes.

Siemens Rail Systems President Michael Cahill estimated that the energy efficiency of the 70 new engines will save Amtrak the cost of about 3-billion kilowatts of electricity over the next two decades. Capable of speeds up to 125 mph, they run connected to overhead power transmission wires.