CHICAGO (AP) -- The company that makes Japan's bullet train cars has been selected to manufacture a fleet of next generation passenger cars for Amtrak rail corridors in the Midwest and California.
Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and California are teaming up to buy the 130 bi-level cars for $352 million from a joint venture by Nippon-Sharyo and Sumitomo Corp. of America.
Transportation authorities in Illinois and California said Wednesday that the cars will be produced at a plant operated by Nippon-Sharyo's U.S. subsidiary in Rochelle, Ill., pending an audit to verify that the cars and components will be produced and assembled in the United States.
The first new cars are scheduled for delivery in 2015.
Funding comes from Federal Railroad Administration grants.
