Amtrak acquired Horizon cars in 1990 to fill the equipment shortage of that era as the Heritage Fleet was being retired and state funded regional services were becoming more popular. 35 years in service is not a terrible service record, but we are so used to seeing some of the Budd equipment run 50 years or more. Earlier Bombardier Comet II cars based on the same carbody don't seem to have the same issues operating for New Jersey Transit, Metro North, Septa and ConDOT. However, I can't speak to the comparative duty cycle of Amtrak's use of the design versus the various commuter agencies and many of the Comet cars have been since rebuilt by Alstom to extend their service life.
Amfleet I cars turn 50 this year. Superliner I cars will average 45 years of age this year. Amfleet II cars are not far behind at 44-42 years. Superliner II cars are the babies of the fleet in some ways being introduced in 1994. All in all, Amtrak has received good value for their investment. It will be interesting to see if the Horizon fleet will be repaired at some point or if the hope is the new Airo sets that are supposed to start coming online next year will resolve the short and mid-range coach challenge. All but a few sets of the Cascade cars are out of service currently too so service from Portland to Vancouver looks to be one of the more affected routes as Horizon sets were being substituted for whole trains. In other locations such as the Downeaster, only one car was a Horizon coach. While that will reduce the capacity of the train, it won't completely affect the frequency of service.
Utah just recently retired the Comet I cars built by Pullman Standard in 1972-1973 for NJDOT and Erie Lackawanna. I wonder if they might end up being leased back to Amtrak for a short-term fix. Pure fictional speculation on my part, but from a railfan perspective, the start of a new "Rainbow Era" could be interesting to watch. On a more serious note, Amtrak saw its two highest years of ridership in 2023 and 2024 so this issue could not have come at a worse time. Amtrak is actually popular with the riding public now and by all accounts very healthy on the corridor services they provide.
I am reminded of PRR's decision to purchase many of their P85 coaches from ACF. Mostly built in 1947 they too suffered corrosion issues and were withdrawn from service by the mid 1960's. Not an enviable service record by any means and certainly deferred maintenance played a role there as well.
