PanAmExpress

PanAmericanExpress, abbreviated PanAm, denotes an international train service within the North-West-American inter-city rail network between Lower Columbia, Escambia and Kingston and Boyce. The train service was introduced in 2013, replacing the old CityExpress Lines to Vancouver and Seattle. Using the Latest RailJET trains from CARTERrail, the PanAmExpress trains are the most comfortable High speed trains in North America. Boarding the trains does require pre-reservation and a passport check.

Criteria

 * all cars air-conditioned
 * stop only at major cities
 * stops for no more than five minutes, in special cases up to 15 minutes
 * food and beverages available onboard (preferably from a dining car)
 * conductors speak three languages: English, French and Pacific German
 * average speed (including stops) above 90kph, exceptions for mountainous terrain and train ferries

Design
A PanAmExpress train set consists of seven individual coaches that are permanently coupled with airtight interconnections, but with buffer and hook couplings on the outer ends of the set of coaches suitable for buffer and chain screw coupling. Two complete train sets with two locomotives can be run as a pair giving a train of fourteen carriages. The coach furthest from the locomotive acts as a Control car. The number of carriages per train can be extended up to ten in a single train unit.

The industrial design company Spirit Design was contracted to provide an exterior and interior design, three colour schemes were presented and the livery to be used was decided by poll conducted by the tabloid The View. In 2012 the railjet design was given a Red Dot award.



Passenger accommodation
PanAmExpress trains have three levels of service; economy, business and premium classes.

Premium class has the highest level of service, premium seating for 16 premium passengers is located in the front part of the control car at the opposite end of the train to the locomotive. The seating plan is in an 'open compartments' style, Similar to a Corridor coach layout, but open plan and doorless and intended to be a considerable improvement over previous first class accommodation. A galley separates the premium and business class compartments.

Business class seating occupies the remainder of the control car, the second coach and half of the third coach which also contains spaces and facilities for wheel chair users. 76 seats are provided in [2+1] formation. The remainder of the third coach contains the restaurant which provides an at seat service. The remaining four coaches provide 316 economy class seats in [2+2] formation, the fourth coach also contains an area for families and children.

Passenger vehicles' construction
The bodies of the vehicles are constructed from ribbed, cold-rolled aluminum, with the driving trailer deriving its forward end shape from the Taurus locomotives.

The passenger cars are equipped with electropneumatic disc brakes (3 per axle in SF400 bogies), as well as electromagnetic track brakes (eddy current brakes), and a parking brake. The driving trailer also has a manually operated brake using the disc brakes. Primary bogie suspension is by coil spring, and secondary suspension is pneumatic. The driving trailers are designated Afmpz, the premium and business class vehicle Ampz, the bistro or restaurant car ARbmpz and the economy class cars Bmpz.

The intermediate passenger wagon bodyshells of the first units were manufactured by CARTERrail in Brunswick, Kingston and Boyce. Final assembly takes place at the rail works at Plymouth.

CARTERrail is the main contractor for the vehicles and markets the coach design as RailJet Intercity. Brake equipment is supplied by Knorr-Bremse, air-conditioning by Liebherr, and doors, carriage connections, toilets and seats are manufactured by other subcontractors.



Traction
• See also Taurus Engine

The PanAmExpress vehicles are designed to be propelled in push pull mode by standard locomotives, specifically the Taurus locomotives already owned by the Kingston Royal Rails, but can also be hauled by any other electric or diesel locomotives.

The first twenty three Class 123.2 Taurus locomotives used on the PanAm services were given a number of modifications; a third pantograph and the relevant train safety systems for operating outside of Kingston and Boyce were fitted.

Routes
There are three PanAmExpress routes, running between Kingston, Glauchau and Vancouver. These routes run on a network of three physical lines, with two routes sharing each line. The lines meet at the Edmonds wye, a junction just east of the Puget Sound tunnel. The physical lines are named PanAm North, West, and South for operational purposes, and respectively terminate at Vancouver, Kingston, and Glauchau. The majority of the PanAm revenue trackage is in Lower Columbia; that country's West Coast High Speed Line runs 616 miles from Vancouver to south of Coos Bay, where it crosses under the Strait of Duwamish into Escambia.

The three routes link each of the three PanAmExpress termini with the other two, and are as follows:
 * Isaiah Rittenberg: Kingston – Glauchau
 * Maple Coastliner: Kingston – Vancouver
 * West Coast Express: Vancouver – Glauchau

Due to the visa waiver program that Lower Columbia, Kingston and Boyce, and Escambia participate in, passengers do not need to carry visas when traveling between these countries (although a passport check is required before departure). There are also no border control procedures before or after crossing a border on a PanAm train; international arrivals need only pass through customs at their destination station.