St. Charles, Mo.'s American Railcar Industries Inc. (ARI) and Ohio-based US Railcar LLC (USR) announced the formation of a joint venture — US Railcar Co. LLC (US Railcar Co.) — which will design, manufacture and sell Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs).
US Railcar Co. will be led by President/CEO Michael P. Pracht, a rail industry veteran with extensive experience with the world's rail transportation companies.
ARI will provide US Railcar Co. with its experience in the production of railcars and ARI representatives will comprise half of the board of the joint venture. Representatives of Value Recovery Group Inc. (VRG), which purchased USR assets from the Colorado Railcar Manufacturing Co. (Colorado Railcar) in late 2008. VRG will comprise half of the Board and will bring to the venture government contracting experience.
Once established, the joint venture plans to produce railcars on order for public authorities and communities to improve public transit, commuter and regional rail service.
The US Railcar Co. DMU was prototyped by Colorado Railcar through a demonstration project in 2002 and is currently the only DMU that is fully compliant with Federal Railroad Administration passenger equipment safety regulations as stated in 49 CFR Part 238.
Available in both regional and intercity configurations, the US Railcar Co. DMU is suited for incremental corridor development at speeds from 79 mph to 90 mph.
Platform enhancements currently anticipated include a diesel-electric upgrade, increasing speeds to 125 mph.