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Ohio-based US Railcar L.L.C. and Missouri-based American Railcar Industries Inc. have formed a joint venture, US Railcar Co. L.L.C.  The company will design, manufacture and sell diesel multiple units (DMUs), a train set that operates without a locomotive and features self-propelled and unpowered passenger-rail cars in both single and bi-level configurations

The joint venture will be led by President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Pracht, who has “extensive experience with the world’s leading rail transportation companies,” according to a press release. ARI will provide US Railcar with experience in the production of rail cars. Half of the joint venture’s board will be comprised of ARI representatives; the other half will be comprised of representatives from Value Recovery Group Inc., which led a group of initial investors to purchase assets from the former Colorado Railcar Manufacturing Co., and has government contracting experience.

The US Railcar Co. DMU was prototyped through a demonstration project in 2002 and currently is the only DMU that’s fully compliant with Federal Railroad Administration passenger equipment safety regulations, according to the company.

Available in both regional and intercity configurations, the DMU is “well suited for incremental corridor development at speeds from 79 mph to 90 mph,” according to US Railcar, which plans to complete a diesel-electric upgrade to enable the cars to reach speeds up to 125 mph. The DMUs can operate on existing freight tracks; 10 already are operating in Florida, Alaska and Oregon.