What's disturbing is that the taxpayer is paying more for locomotives with an ever-shorter service life. The PRR GG-1 lasted close to 50 years, and probably would have stayed in service longer than it did had the former PRR lines not de-electrified (BTW, thanks, Amtrak, another good one!) The AEM-7's service life will be 35-40 years, depending on exactly when they are retired. The E-60's service span on Amtrak was 29 years - and, actually, quite a bit less for much of the fleet. If Amtrak is indeed going to fully replace the HHP-8 with the new locos, that'll mean the HHP-8 will have had a service life of less than 15 years. I've had cars that lasted longer than that.
But, it's only taxpayer money Amtrak's playing with. Who needs good design, when the taxpayer will be forced to buy replacements every couple of years?
Well hang on. the GG1s were great but were huge power consumers and they were great technology for the time but let's face it, 50 years for transportation technology is a bit long. Would you still fly in a DC-9 or a 707 if it were available to fly coast to coast or would you prefer a new 737 or a 777 without a Korean training pilot? The AEM-7s have done a remarkable stint but their technology is very, very old. Yes like the GG1s, they would still work as long as they were properly maintained, which they are, but I do know
that Wilmington has to make a ton of the parts just to go in them which increases maintenance costs. And while the new locomotives are being purchased with a loan from the US government of $466m, it's not a subsidy and with Amtrak doing record business on the corridor, they'll pay for themselves by being more available to haul trains, have fewer breakdowns (having been stuck on one or two Acelas and Regionals hauled by AEM-7s and HHP-8s, it's no fun "walking the plank" to another train) and being more energy efficient. They also have more sophisticated diagnostic systems onboard to help avoid service outages by alerting Amtrak's mechanical department of issues before a train breaks down.
So yes, spending $6m for each locomotive is expensive but I think Amtrak has done its homework here and that these new locomotives will do just fine for them and the taxpayers won't be out a dime.