Stadler's Growth in the USA

Tucked away in the fields of Bussnang, Switzerland is the headquarters of one of the world’s largest railway equipment manufacturers, Stadler Rail. Well-known for its configurable high-speed, intercity, and regional trains such as the SMILE, KISS, FLIRT, and GTW, Stadler also manufactures trams, locomotives, and other custom equipment such as rack railway rolling stock. You can find their equipment being used in many countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Turkey, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and the US.

In the United States specifically, Stadler has found a spot in the regional and inter-urban market and has been steadily growing. Typically, when I think about passenger rail in the US, I think of Siemens with their large locomotives pulling passenger carriages. Locomotives such as from the Siemens Charger family, adapted from the Vectron for the US market, like the SC 44 are used by Amtrak on the Pacific Surfliner service in Southern California or the Cascades service in Washington. A close relative the SCB 40 Charger locomotive is used by Brightline in Florida. Similarly, the Siemens ALC 42 is used on many Amtrak lines, replacing the ageing General Electric P42DC locomotives. Instead of locomotives for passenger transport, Stadler provides multiple units of train sets in the United States. These are passenger carriages coupled together with a cab for the driver on each end. Having two cabs means the driver can simply step out and drive the train from the other end when reaching the end of the line. The bogies under the passenger carriages propel themselves, hence no need for a dedicated locomotive.

Here’s a full list of the lines served by Stadler multiple unit equipment in the US:

• New Jersey Transit’s River Line, from 2004 to today, uses 20 Stadler GTW Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs).
• CapMetro’s Red Line in Austin, Texas, uses 10 Stadler GTW DMUs since 2010.
• Denton County Transportation Authority’s A-Train in Dallas, Texas, runs 11 Stadler GTW 2/6 DMUs from 2012 to today.
• East Contra Costa County BART extension, or eBART for short, in California, uses 8 Stadler GTW 2/6 DMUs since 2018.
• TEXRail’s Trinity Metro uses 8 Stadler FLIRT DMUs from 2019 to today.
• San Bernardino County Transportation Authority’s Arrow service uses 3 Stadler FLIRT DMUs since 2022, with plans for a hydrogen-powered FLIRT Zero-Emission (ZEMU) in the near future.
• Caltrain’s San Francisco to San Jose service uses 23 Stadler KISS EMUs since 2024, with plans for a Stadler Battery-Equipped Multiple Unit (BEMU) in 2030.

Initially, I planned on introducing each of these transport providers, how they use the Stadler trains and where they fit in with transport in the region; that was a year ago. There’s a lot of developments in some of these areas which meant the research and writing never stopped. This list doesn’t even include the one metro line in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Rack (also called Cog) railway near Colorado in Pikes Peak using Stadler trains. I plan to just keep this post high-level and on Stadler in the context of the US passenger rail rather than on each line. This post can then be supplemented with other deeper dives as they come out.

To kick off, in the 1990s plans were drawn up in New Jersey to better connect the residents of South Jersey and provide transportation between the cities of Trenton and Camden. This needed rail service capable of traveling between the two cities but also operating within them almost like a streetcar (tram). New Jersey Transit picked Stadler GTWs Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) for the task. This was not only the first export of the GTW to the United States but also the first order of Stadler equipment from the country. In the following years, Stadler GTW DMUs were manufactured and shipped to Austin, Denton County, and San Francisco.

It was in 2015 that Stadler received their first order for a FLIRT, the next generation taking over from the GTW, in the US. This order from TEXRail came with a condition, the “Buy America Act”. With the project funded by a federal grant, Stadler needed to now manufacture a significant portion of their vehicles in the US. Stadler sought a facility for manufacturing and assembly which it found in Utah in 2015. This leased space at the Warm Springs Service Center was owned and also used by the Utah Transit Authority.

The facility was only temporary as Stadler continued the search for a site to call their own as they continued to bid for and receive orders. Their search ended in 2017 after finding a 21,300 square-meter site near the Salt Lake City International Airport where they began construction. This was to contain a kilometre-long test track for trains, multiple buildings to assemble and manufacture their equipment and house staff, and lastly, a rail spur to receive freight. According to Stadler, the facility has “production space for the bogie, main, pre- and final assembly of single- and bi-level trains. In addition to storage and handling areas, test tracks will be set up for the commissioning of the trains.” In just a single year, the Salt Lake City site was ready to use and the opening ceremony was held on 9 May 2019. From here, the company can now begin to assemble Caltrain’s order of 16 KISS EMUs. Shortly after, Stadler won a contract for 8 FLIRT DMUs from San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, which would also be fulfilled through its new US facility.

There are rumoured plans, according to Reddit user u/Paniolo_Man, that Stadler is looking to further expand this facility.

The next part in the series will cover the first Stadler order in the United States, the GTW Diesel Multiple Units for New Jersey.

2025-02-02: Added link to New Jersey Transit post.