High-speed Rail Manufacturing Facility Coming to Horseheads

HORSEHEADS, NY (WENY) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) visited Horseheads on Monday to announce the Southern Tier has been selected as the site of a manufacturing hub to build American high-speed rail cars for the Brightline West project.

“Horseheads has become ground zero for the next chapter in American rail transportation. The Southern Tier could not be a more fitting spot. With this new factory, we are going to be the center of rail car and high-speed rail car manufacturing in the whole country,” said Sen. Maj. Leader, Schumer.

Siemens Mobility will build a new manufacturing facility at the Southern Tier Logistics Business Park on Wygant Road. The company plans to invest approximately $60 million to build a 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility, creating approximately 300 new jobs, according to Schumer’s office.

Brightline West will be the nation’s first true high-speed passenger rail system, connecting Las Vegas and Southern California. In May, Brightline announced it has selected Siemens Mobility as its “preferred bidder” for the project.

“[Horseheads is] a great location for us. We searched all over the East Coast and we found this cement pad that’s already here, a rail line that’s already here, and a great workforce. Every $1 billion invested in the rail industry creates 24,000 jobs. We’re starting out with 300 here and we hope the plant can continue to grow,” said CEO for Siemens Mobility North America, Marc Buncher.

CEO Buncher said groundbreaking at the Horseheads facility will start in early 2025. The contract includes a fleet of ten “American Pioneer 220” train sets to be manufactured and delivered by 2028. The AP 220 rail cars are designed for speeds up to 220 miles per hour, and can carry up to 450 passengers as a seven-car train. Once in service, Brightline says the trains can make the 218 mile trip from Las Vegas to Southern California in two hours, about half the time it takes by car. A public-private partnership with the Nevada Department of Transportation broke ground on the rail system in the spring of 2024. The $12 billion project also includes $3 billion in federal funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure bill.

Sen. Maj. Leader Schumer said this new factory will be the center of rail car and high-speed passenger rail car manufacturing in the country.

Horseheads Village Mayor Kevin Adams said this is a historic day for the area.

“The trickle down effect of this will be restaurants, hotels, groceries, goods and services. These are 300 potential families that could be moving into the region with well paying jobs while spending money into other businesses/small businesses across the region,” said Mayor Adams.

Jennifer Furman, the Deputy County Executive for Chemung Co. said the new 300 jobs will be an economic boost in many ways.

“It’ll help our housing development in Chemung County. It’ll help schools [and] sales tax revenue throughout the county. We expect a significant number of different impacts from this project,” said Furman.

The work will be performed by workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) union.

“Bringing high-speed rail to America is no longer a dream, but a reality. With Leader Schumer, the Biden Administration and Brightline’s leadership we will transform the way Americans travel,” said Marc Buncher, CEO Siemens Mobility North America. “Continuing our more than four-decade legacy of building trains in America, the American Pioneer 220s will be American-Made in New York by a team of more than 300 skilled team members.”

“We’ve said from the start that Brightline West will plant the flag for high-speed rail in America and will lay the foundation for a new industry with unimaginable economic benefits. Today’s announcement that jobs are being created thousands of miles away from the rail line is just the starting point,” said Michael Reininger CEO of Brightline. “For the first time ever in the U.S., we will be manufacturing trains that will compete with the best in the world. Reaching speeds of over 200 mph, these trains will be marked by the latest innovations designed for the modern traveler and establishing a new benchmark in transportation.”