#4197
Turboliner
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Alstom Crespin· from 1973· family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. LAST MINUTE CHECK OF THE ENGINE OF THE AMTRAK TURBOLINER PASSENGER TRAIN IS MADE BEFORE DEPARTURE FROM ST. LOUIS... - NARA - 556059: Charles O'Rear· Public domain
- 2. Ann Arbor AMTK May 1975 5-30: Lawrence and David Barera· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. RTG Turboliner: Charles O'Rear· Public domain
- 4. RTL Turboliner: Bruce Fingerhood from Springfield, Oregon, US· CC BY 2.0
- 5. Amt Turboliner-2139: Sturmovik at English Wikipedia· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. Amt Turboliner-3rd-rail-shoe: Sturmovik at English Wikipedia· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 7. RTG Turboliner: Figmig· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 8. RTL Turboliner at Adams Yard on Northeast Corridor in August 2021: Bonnachoven· CC0
- 9. Turboliner 152: Bruce Fingerhood from Springfield, Oregon, US· CC BY 2.0
- 10. Turboliner RTL 150 at South Station 1088.agr: ArnoldReinhold· CC BY-SA 4.0
what is it?
The Turboliners were a family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s. They were among the first new equipment purchased by Amtrak to update its fleet with faster, more modern trains. The first batch, known as RTG, were built by the French firm ANF and entered service on multiple routes in the Midwestern United States in 1973.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 53 years ago, in 1973.
- Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 12 minutes.
- 2.2 MW is about 26 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 26.2 m long: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 296: 6 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Served for 21 years (1973–1994).
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1973
- in service from
- 1973
- retired
- 1994
- status
- retired
- number built
- 6
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- gas turbine
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Alstom Crespin
- operators
- Amtrak
- top speed
- 201 km/h
- power
- 2.2 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- B-2
- formation
- Five cars
- length
- 26.2 m
- capacity
- 296 passengers
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7853900, Wikipedia: Turboliner (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.