Siemens to build 200-mile-per hour trains in Schumer’s backyard

Siemens AG announced plans to invest $60 million to build a new unionized manufacturing plant in upstate New York that will produce high-speed rail cars for the North American market.

The facility in Horseheads in New York’s Southern Tier region will manufacture the American Pioneer 220 rail cars, which are capable of reaching speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, Siemens said in a statement on Monday. The plant is set to begin production in 2026 and it will employ about 300 people once fully operational.

Production will initially support Siemens’ contract on the Brightline West rail project, designed to connect Southern California and Las Vegas with a two-hour train journey. 

“Bringing high-speed rail to America is no longer a dream, but a reality,” Marc Buncher, chief executive officer of the German company’s mobility business in North America, said in a statement. 

Siemens also announced an agreement with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers to allow collective bargaining at the new facility — a contrast to its largest rail plant in Sacramento, which isn’t unionized. The new plant was announced in conjunction with US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat. 

Despite an easing industrial labor shortage, unions representing workers in key parts of the supply chain have continued to flex their political and economic clout. 

Boeing Co. hammered out a weekend deal with its biggest union, a unit of the IAM, including what the company said is its largest-ever general wage increase. 

Meanwhile, the union representing dockworkers at six of the 10 busiest US ports has issued fresh strike threats and is seeking a pay boost of nearly 80% over six years. The Canadian government had to intervene last month after the country’s two largest railroads briefly shut down amid a labor negotiation impasse. 

Siemens has expanded its US manufacturing footprint in recent years. It broke ground last year on a separate $220 million rail manufacturing facility in Lexington, North Carolina, and it invested $150 million to build an electrical infrastructure plant in Fort Worth, Texas.