Does Amtrak have anything presently or potentially (after repair/refurb) operable that *is* PRIIA compliant? As a practical matter, anything Amtrak can supply quickly for "interim" use to allow early retirement of the oldest Talgos would have to come from the back lot, and is at least as old if not older than the Bad Talgos.

You're right that the new trains have to go out for a general procurement, and if Talgo proposes it would have to be with PRIIA equipment. The requirements could, of course, have Talgo written all over them, since conventional equipment would not be able to maintain the curve speeds of Talgo and therefore would not be able to run on the same schedules.