U.S. Manufacturing
High-speed rail is bringing good manufacturing jobs back to America. In Upstate New York, Siemens Mobility and workers represented by the Machinists union are manufacturing high-speed trainsets for Brightline West.
A new high-tech supply chain
The most direct manufacturing effect is buying trains. A national high-speed rail system would require hundreds or thousands of trainsets over several decades, plus replacement fleets, spare parts, maintenance equipment, traction systems, signaling equipment, and station systems.
One underappreciated benefit is that manufacturing doesn't necessarily go solely to the company building the train. Modern trains contain thousands of components. One train order can become orders for dozens or hundreds of companies stretching across multiple states, producing products from brackets to seats to HVAC systems.
Also, high-speed projects consume large amounts of basic materials such as concrete , steel rail, and copper wire, creating a boom for heavy manufacturing.
In California, the high-speed rail project is moving from civil construction in the Central Valley to procurement of track and systems. The High-Speed Rail Authority signed a contract of up to $3.5 billion to lay track in 2026 and build overhead electrical systems, train control and other infrastructure. Companies in 41 states are working on the California project, from Illinois to Michigan to New York to Colorado. The supply chain will grow as the project advances, to include products, parts, and high-tech systems. New careers will support the supply chain, from marketing to engineering to architecture.
This is where the importance of a national network is critical. Manufacturing becomes much more competitive when factories produce large numbers of related products. Recurring demand is created for rolling stock, rail, switches, catenary, concrete, bridges and other projects and products.
This is perhaps the most ambitious potential benefit. As American factories begin to produce high-speed rail equipment for the domestic market, those factories can potentially sell to Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia and many other countries. Japan demonstrated this with the global demand for Shinkansen technology.
HSR requires sophisticated engineering with layers of complex systems. High-speed rail creates demand for innovations in:
- lightweight materials
- aerodynamics
- power electronics
- electric motors
- batteries
- braking
- vibration control
- advanced composites
- communications
- signaling
- cybersecurity
- sensors
SOURCE: Research Papers in Economics
10
$60M
2026
Siemens is manufacturing ten American Pioneer 220 trainsets for the Brightline West project in Upstate New York.
The trains to power Brightline West from Las Vegas to Southern California - and help build a Southwest Regional High-Speed Network - are being manufactured 2,000 miles away in Horsehead, NY. Production is scheduled to start in 2026.
Siemens Mobility is investing $60 million in the first in North American plant.
The project will create 300 permanent skilled as well as a larger supply chain of businesses that will supply the equipment and components.
