Bombardier ALP-46

Bombardier Transportation
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Rail transport equipment manufacturing
Predecessor	ADtranz
Fate	Acquired by Alstom in 2021
Successor	Alstom
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Trains, locomotives, rail equipment
Owner	Bombardier Inc. (until acquisition)
Parent	Bombardier Inc.
Website	rail.bombardier.com

The Bombardier ALP-46 is an electric locomotive constructed in Germany by Bombardier Transportation between 2001 and 2002, with an enhanced version, the ALP-46A, produced from 2009 to 2011 specifically for the United States market. Modeled after the German DBAG Class 101, this locomotive series is operated solely by NJ Transit. The ALP-46 family is deployed across NJT’s electrified lines, including prominent routes such as the Northeast Corridor Line, North Jersey Coast Line, Morris & Essex Lines, and Montclair-Boonton Line. These units replaced the older ALP-44 locomotives, which were completely phased out by 2012.

Orders and delivery

New Jersey Transit placed an order for 29 locomotives, acquiring the first 24 ALP-46 units in December 1999, followed by an additional five in September 2001. Bombardier, formerly ADtranz, manufactured these locomotives at their facility in Kassel, Germany. The initial pair of units functioned as pre-production models: number 4600 underwent trials at the TTCI testing site in Pueblo, Colorado, while unit 4601 was tested on NJT’s network around Kearny. After completion, all locomotives were transported overland to Bremen and subsequently shipped aboard Roro-ships via Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics to the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey.

In February 2008, NJT commissioned twenty-seven ALP-46A locomotives from Bombardier, designed with a maximum speed of , intended primarily for hauling Bombardier MultiLevel Coach passenger cars. This contract was valued at approximately €155 million (equivalent to about $230 million). Later, in June 2009, NJT exercised an option to procure nine additional units along with spare parts for $72 million.

The first two ALP-46A locomotives were delivered on November 12, 2009, from Bombardier’s Kassel plant. By December 13 of that year, they had arrived at NJT facilities; unit 4629 was dispatched to Pueblo for testing purposes, whereas unit 4630 was used for testing and maintenance training in Kearny. Delivery of the entire fleet was completed by April 5, 2011, with all units entering active revenue service by May 7, 2011.

In October 2019, locomotive number 4636 was adorned with a heritage livery honoring the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of NJ Transit’s 40th Anniversary celebrations. Similarly, in September 2023, locomotive 4640 was decorated with a heritage disco stripe wrap to commemorate the same milestone for NJ Transit Rail Operations.

Variants and operations

Both the ALP-46 and ALP-46A models are assigned to haul NJ Transit's fleets comprising Comet IIM, IV, V series, as well as Multilevel cars. During its final operational phase, the ALP-46 also pulled Amfleet trains on Amtrak's Clocker service.

ALP-46

Generating , the ALP-46 functions under overhead catenary power with a top speed of . It is directly derived from the German DBAG Class 101 locomotive platform, which operates at speeds reaching .

This model incorporates Bombardier’s MITRAC 3000 electric propulsion technology and includes a polyol-ester cooled transformer that steps down catenary voltage to feed two GTO-based traction converters (Bombardier MITRAC TC 3100 AC series). Each converter supplies power to traction motors (Bombardier MITRAC DR 3700F series) mounted on one bogie.

ALP-46A

The ALP-46A is equipped with an enhanced Bombardier MITRAC 3000 propulsion system featuring advanced water-cooled IGBT traction converters from the Bombardier MITRAC TC 3360 AC series. Each traction motor is powered by its own dedicated inverter. This configuration boosts the power output to , and raises the maximum speed capability to ; however, NJ Transit restricts its operational speed to 100 mph.

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