CHICAGO — Its trials completed at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colo., Amtrak’s first Siemens Aero trainset is now headed east to the company’s Philadelphia coach yard, where it will be based for Northeast Corridor testing and commissioning. That trip included a stop in Chicago today (Oct. 22, 2025).
The train — a cab car, five coaches including one business class car, and Charger ALC-42e locomotive No. 70001, all wearing the unique Amtrak Cascades paint scheme — operated from LaJunta, Colo., as train No. 966 on the Southwest Chief’s route across Kansas, Missouri, and western Illinois. Led by P42s Nos. 134 and 85, an Amfleet I café, and heritage sleeper No. 10020 Pacific Home, it arrived at Chicago at the beginning of the morning rush on Metra’s BNSF Line.
After all equipment was serviced and given a mandatory 1,000-mile inspection, the entire exited to the Union Avenue interlocking to be turned on the wye for trip east. In the process, the Aero equipment tested clearances on one of the sharpest curves on the Amtrak system
The exterior had not been cleaned since leaving the Siemens factory in Sacramento, Calif., at the beginning of the summer, so the trainset also made a pass through the newly commissioned train wash.
The special was set to leave Chicago tonight, following the Floridian to Pittsburgh, then operate on the markers of the Pennsylvanian to Philadelphia on Thursday. The first Aeros are slated to enter service in Pacific Northwest on the Eugene, Ore.-Vancouver, B.C. Cascades corridor in early 2026.
