Additionally serving to to announce the NextGen trains is the notable slogan “Inbuilt America, for America.” Amtrak has said publicly that it employed union labor to construct its new trains in upstate New York, utilizing elements from 180 suppliers in 29 states and, within the course of, created some 15,000 jobs.
Whereas Acela trains serve solely a slender slice of the nation, Amtrak is clearly directing this messaging at a much bigger viewers, rigorously calibrating it to the nationwide vibe. A survey final 12 months by the Chicago Council on World Affairs discovered that 66% of People favored the restriction of imported items if it might safeguard American jobs. Home employment is a type of uncommon points with widespread bipartisan help, and that’s not a nasty factor to have: Amtrak acquired some $2.4 billion in federal appropriations in 2024.
“In a world the place there’s quite a lot of goodness to focus on concerning the practice,” Hamlisch stated, “the truth that it’s produced right here within the U.S. we felt was one thing of paramount significance.”
And relevance. “Amtrak is studying the room, studying the nationwide temper,” noticed advertising and marketing guide David J. Deal. “Individuals are insecure about their jobs. They’re insecure concerning the state of the financial system typically. For a enterprise to say they consider in America and in addition creating 15,000 U.S. jobs may be very credible.”
Even so, in Deal’s view, the railroad was sensible to flaunt its new facilities first.
“Nobody’s going to experience on Amtrak as a result of they need a practice that was inbuilt America,” he stated. “But it surely has to assist their model to make use of America as a supporting message.”
One problem that the NextGen Acela trains nonetheless can’t surmount are the constraints imposed by numerous sections of the Northeast Hall tracks, the place grade crossings and a 152-year-old stone tunnel in Baltimore pressure trains to sluggish approach down. However only for the report, Hamlisch stated, “our outdated practice units went 150 miles an hour. Our new practice units go 160.”
