Why isn't the airo test train on it's own power?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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I’ve been following the new Amtrak Airo train testing, and have been wondering why it doesn’t run on its own power. I mean, sure, they probably use its own power for actual testing, but for moving it around, wouldn’t it just be extra testing, which I see as good?

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I thought the ‘Airo’ sets just had a cab car at one end to make them bidirectional without needing a Siemens Charger or equivalent to both ends.

They use a separate locomotive to run, and would add other locomotives in MU if that were needed.

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Getting it across country as part of an existing manifest is much less complicated than running it on its own power. Crews would need to be qualified on the equipment and the territories they pass through. Plus, they’d be running on tracks belonging to other railroads, who are focused on dispatching their own trains, not participating in Amtrak qualifications.

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Movement of the equipment between manufacturer and Amtrak’s designated ‘port of entry’ is a revenue move for the Class 1’s moving the train.

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While I’m sure that’s true in many cases, I have seen several movements of the new Acela train sets over the CSX Water Level route that were towed by an Amtrak P42, sometimes with a single Amfleet coach. This is also a regular Amtrak route (Lakeshore Ltd. among others), so l tend to think it is operated by an Amtrak crew qualified on the territory.

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I’ve seen Siemens Venture cars with it’s Venture cabcar, but a Bi-Level California Car acts as a cab car since those Venture cabs cannot lead by themselves at the moment. Either a Siemens Charger or EMD F59PHI pushes or pulls the train.

A search on google says train crews hate the consists because the Siemens Chargers and the California Cabcars use different control layouts which complicates operations. Engineers love it when a California Car is at one end with an EMD F59PHI pulling as the F59PHI is a locomotive crews know and are used to. The Siemens Charger is something else.

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Same here, I was chasing the Airo around. I heard that SC-44 1403 was in the northeast corridor.