Siemens to supply California's first high-speed trains in $772m deal

Photo: a Velaro Novo demonstrator car in an ICE test train at Erfurt, 2018. Niklas Wolter, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

California's high-speed rail project is about to choose its first trains. Siemens Mobility has been selected to supply three American Pioneer 220 trainsets for the 275 km Merced–Bakersfield section, in a package worth about $772m including ten years of maintenance, according to documents released ahead of the authority's board meeting on 28 October.

The award still needs board approval. If it goes ahead, the California High-Speed Rail Authority would pay $281.7m for the three trains, $284.1m for maintenance and full service from 2030 to 2040, and set aside $206.3m for testing, cost escalation, exchange rates and taxes, Railway Gazette reported. Options cover up to 19 more trainsets at $62.1m each.

The AP220 belongs to Siemens' Velaro Novo family. Each seven-car train is 202 m long, offers at least 450 reclining seats in a 2+2 layout with a power socket and USB-C at every seat, and draws 8.2 MW from distributed traction. Batteries provide emergency propulsion. The aluminium bodies are designed to US Tier III crash and fire rules for running above 200 km/h, and the trains are rated for 354 km/h (220 mph), altitudes up to 1,400 m and a 30-year, 20 million km life.

Built in Germany after Buy America was dropped

The trains will be built in Germany. The authority dropped federal Buy America requirements in August. The project has relied mainly on state funding since the US Department of Transportation cancelled about $4bn of federal grants in July 2025. Alstom and Siemens had been the two shortlisted bidders since January 2024.

Deliveries are planned from the end of 2029, with testing from spring 2030 and passenger service on the initial operating section in 2033–34. Maintenance payments will be monthly and tied to availability and reliability, with five-year extensions possible up to 30 years.

Three trains is a small first order for a line once sold as a Los Angeles–San Francisco link, but it matches the scale of what California can now afford to open. It also gives the United States a common high-speed platform: Siemens is already building ten seven-car AP220 sets for Brightline West between Las Vegas and southern California, selected in May 2024. Two operators running the same design means shared spare parts, training and test experience, which matters on a continent with no high-speed fleet of its own.

The real test will be the timetable. Trains arriving in 2029 need finished track, electrification and signalling across the Central Valley, and the authority has missed several earlier dates. The board vote on 28 October is the next step.

Read more: California's $507m track materials contract and progress in the Central Valley.

Sources: Railway Gazette International, Siemens Mobility selected for California High Speed Rail train contract (23/10/2026); Metro Rail Today, Siemens Mobility awarded $772 million trainset contract (October 2026); California High-Speed Rail Authority, shortlist of potential trainset suppliers (05/01/2024); US Department of Transportation, statement on the $4bn grant cancellation (July 2025).

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