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Siemens Venture is a type of locomotive-hauled passenger railroad car built by Siemens Mobility for the North American market. The cars are derived from the Siemens Viaggio Comfort cars used in Europe, with adaptations for North American operations. The cars entered service with Brightline in 2018 and with Amtrak Midwest (services funded by Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin) in 2022. They have also been ordered by Amtrak for national and other state-supported routes (including those in California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, North Carolina, and Vermont), Via Rail, and Ontario Northland. The Venture cars will also be used on Amtrak’s Airo trainsets.
In November 2017, a coalition of states with state-supported Amtrak routes ordered 137 Venture railcars through its contractor Sumitomo Corporation. The order included seven trainsets for California and 88 cars for Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri (Amtrak Midwest) as and single coaches. The Ventures were the coalition's second passenger railcar order; the first order of Next Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Cars was canceled after the prototype, built by Sumitomo's subcontractor, Nippon Sharyo, failed a buff strength test in August 2015. The first three Venture cars entered testing in February 2020. They were originally planned to enter revenue service in July 2020 but were delayed, not making their first run until February 1, 2022, on a Lincoln Service train.
On December 12, 2018, Canada's national passenger rail service operator, Via Rail, announced that it was purchasing 32 Venture trainsets to replace the entire fleet used on its Québec City–Windsor Corridor. The first trainset was delivered for testing in 2021. They are expected to enter service in 2022–2024.
In August 2019, the state of Wisconsin used a Federal Railroad Administration grant to purchase six Venture coaches and three Cab car. The six coaches will be added to the Amtrak Midwest pool while the three cab cars will be used exclusively for Hiawatha trains.
In April 2021, Amtrak announced that they would order 83 trainsets to replace the aging Amfleet I fleet and Budd Metroliner cab cars. The contract was signed in July 2021 and includes 20 years of after-delivery service and support. On October 13, 2023, Siemens unveiled their Venture car prototype for the new Amtrak Airo equipment.
| Amtrak | 156 | 26 six-car sets, includes cab car and catenary power car |
| 256 | 32 eight-car sets, includes cab car and catenary power car | |
| 102 | 17 six-car trainsets, includes cab car and battery car | |
| Amtrak Cascades | 48 | 8 six-car sets, includes cab car |
| Amtrak Midwest | 97 | 34 married pairs, 26 single cars, and 3 single cab cars |
| San Joaquins | 49 | 7 seven-car sets, includes cab car |
| Brightline | 60 | 10 six-car sets |
| Ontario Northland | 9 | 3 three-car sets, includes cab car |
| Via Rail | 160 | 32 five-car sets, includes cab car |
Each trainset will include one business class car, three coach class cars, one café car for food service, and one combined coach/baggage/cab car. They will operate with Siemens Charger locomotives, several of which are already owned by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The first trainset was delivered in 2025 for testing and commissioning before entry into revenue service, scheduled for 2026.
Of the 97 cars, 68 are built as Twin unit (two cars semi-permanently coupled with open gangways), while the remaining 29 are single (unmarried) cars with traditional gangways. Half of the married pairs (17) have a café car and an economy coach, while the remaining 17 have a combination business class/economy class coach and an economy-only coach. The business class and café cars have two vestibules each, while the economy coaches have one. This arrangement—unique among Venture operators—allows trains to be sized to meet the travel demands of individual routes and allows business class seating and cafe cars to be added or removed. Among the 29 single cars are three cab cars with economy seating for exclusive use on Hiawatha trains.
The trainsets will be built in three configurations, tailored to the capacity and propulsion needs of the routes over which they will operate. All trainsets will include an ALC-42E Charger locomotive on one end of the consist and a cab control passenger car on the opposite end. Onboard, there will be a car with a food service area and a mix of Coach Class and Business Class seating. The initial order for 65 trainsets was later increased to 75 in August 2023, with an option to purchase additional trainsets in the future.
There will be 26 six-car catenary-diesel dual-power trainsets that will include an Auxiliary Power Vehicle (APV). The APV will be the trailer car closest to the locomotive and will include a pantograph, an underfloor transformer to handle the Northeast Corridor's 25 kV, 12.5 kV and 12 kV AC traction power systems, a four-quadrant chopper, and two powered trucks. In electrified territory, the APV will draw power from overhead lines, through the transformer and fed to the four traction motors in the car, and via a DC link cable, to the four traction motors in the locomotive. These trainsets will be used on the , , Hartford Line, , , , and .
There will also be 32 eight-car catenary-diesel dual-power trainsets, similarly configured, for use on trains, including through trains to Virginia and Springfield, Massachusetts.
Amtrak will also purchase 17 six-car battery-diesel hybrid trainsets, where the trailer car closest to the locomotive will have batteries to supply electricity to traction motors in the locomotive when operating around New York Penn Station, eliminating the need for third rail propulsion on the , , , and .
, 83 coach cars and 9 locomotives have been completed, with 23 coaches in final assembly stages.
The Venture cars began early service on the San Joaquins in December 2023, without café cars and utilizing separate Amtrak NPCU cab-control cars. The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) is investigating the use of unstaffed vending machines to provide food service on their Venture sets; presently, the only food service available on Venture sets are "Snack Stations" — grab-and-go selections of complimentary Snack and beverages. The cab-control cars, once delivered, will provide additional space for passenger seating and checked baggage. The SJJPA has not yet disclosed a date for the café or cab-control equipment to enter service.
Brightline purchased five trainsets for its initial service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Five more trainsets were purchased ahead of the extension of the line to Orlando and additional stations opening in Aventura and Boca Raton. An additional 20 cars were purchased to expand the trainsets. They will be extended to five-car sets in 2024 and six-car sets in 2025. Brightline has said that it plans to eventually expand the trainsets to ten cars.
Each trainset will be paired with a Siemens Charger SCV-42 diesel-electric locomotive. All seats will be 19 inches wide, with a 2×1 layout in business class and 2×2 in economy class. All cars will be semi-permanently coupled with open gangways, which, compared to the current fleet, are wider and isolated from weather.
Some cars have a galley area, allowing for at-seat food and beverage service across both classes.
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