Ten years of Acela service.

I believe the ten year anniversary of the Acela service is on Dec. 10, or sometime this week at the very least.

Given the anniversary I was hoping to get some thoughts about the ups and downs of the service over the last decade. As for myself, as one who usually uses Amtrak between Wilmington or Philadelpia and NYC... In some ways I preferred the old Metroliner Service between NYC and Phila. to the current Acela service. But I feel there is no doubt that the Acela has been a significant upgrade over the length of the entire NEC.

The date was December 11, 2000 with one WAS-BOS roundtrip.

I've often suggested that it may be beneficial for Amtrak to have sort of three classes of trains on the NEC:

1) Your Premium Train - the "Acela Express" with Business and First Class sections
2) A hybrid between the Northeast Regional and Premium Train: the "Metroliner" with perhaps business or coach class and then a First Class section
3) Current service of Northeast Regional - Coach and business class, or perhaps just coach class, if the Metroliner operates more as a Northeast Regional, but has the business and first class options, let alone similiar stops!

For that matter, I'd like to see some sort of "premium class" or "first class" service on other corridor trains besides just the NEC trains (offered presently on just Acela Express). Even the long distance day trains may benefit from something like VIA Rail Canada's invention of "Touring Class." Also "north of the border" one can typically find more than just one "first class" car if demand is high enough!

I enjoy the larger windows of the Acela. Have never had a bad experience riding one. The most memorable for me was when one broke down between NYP and BOS. We had to transfer to a regional via metal "bridges" that connected the train. Amtrak handled the whole thing pretty efficiently. Overall delay was about 90 minutes.

jp1822 wrote:I've often suggested that it may be beneficial for Amtrak to have sort of three classes of trains on the NEC:

1) Your Premium Train - the "Acela Express" with Business and First Class sections
2) A hybrid between the Northeast Regional and Premium Train: the "Metroliner" with perhaps business or coach class and then a First Class section
3) Current service of Northeast Regional - Coach and business class, or perhaps just coach class, if the Metroliner operates more as a Northeast Regional, but has the business and first class options, let alone similiar stops!

For that matter, I'd like to see some sort of "premium class" or "first class" service on other corridor trains besides just the NEC trains (offered presently on just Acela Express). Even the long distance day trains may benefit from something like VIA Rail Canada's invention of "Touring Class." Also "north of the border" one can typically find more than just one "first class" car if demand is high enough!

I would think on the NEC, an "economy coach" would get more people on the train.

Happy Early Birthday Acela

gprimr1 wrote: I would think on the NEC, an "economy coach" would get more people on the train.

That's exactly what I have been thinkin of-bring back the Clockers as an unreserved bargain service.

I like the Acela. Gave a great ride through CT, RI, and MA. From a railfan point of view, I enjoyed riding it. As a traveler, however, its completely pointless as the Regionals are a lot cheaper and not much slower. I'm glad, however, that businesses with deeper pockets value the service so much that it's thriving.

After 10 years, has demand exceeded supply for Acela? As Amtrak increases advertising for the service, I wonder at what point they will have to expand the current fleet of 20 trainsets, each with a capacity of 304 passengers.

Matt Johnson wrote:After 10 years, has demand exceeded supply for Acela? As Amtrak increases advertising for the service, I wonder at what point they will have to expand the current fleet of 20 trainsets, each with a capacity of 304 passengers.

New trainsets may be a problem, since the Bombardier plant in Barre, VT no longer exists.

jp1822 wrote: three classes of trains on the NEC:

On the birthday of the Acela Express, I give my condolences to the Acela Regional and the Acela Commuter. These services in my opinion should of been developed more and marketed better. Perhaps we will see their return one day...

R36 Combine Coach wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:After 10 years, has demand exceeded supply for Acela? As Amtrak increases advertising for the service, I wonder at what point they will have to expand the current fleet of 20 trainsets, each with a capacity of 304 passengers.

New trainsets may be a problem, since the Bombardier plant in Barre, VT no longer exists.

I think we'll see some additional cars added to the current trainsets, but not additional copies of the current trainsets. Acela certainly has its flaws (especially the name), detailed by David Gunn and others, but I don't think you can deny that it's been a "hit" with those who ride it.

If only the Acela could average at least 100 mph!!

Matt Johnson wrote:After 10 years, has demand exceeded supply for Acela? As Amtrak increases advertising for the service, I wonder at what point they will have to expand the current fleet of 20 trainsets, each with a capacity of 304 passengers.

Amtrak will be increasing capacity a bit by reconfiguring the Acela cafe cars to provide 27 revenue seats at one end along with an ADA seat. The first cafe car to be converted was supposed to be done by the end of this calendar year with the rest of the 20 train sets over the next 3 years, but I have not seen any news on this in a while. The layout of the cafe cars with the stools has to be regarded as one of the least successful parts of the Acela program.

Ordering additional coach cars or a small number of additional train sets will be a problem because who would build them for a small production order?

I don't know how far along the "Acela II" concept has come, but Amtrak has referenced preliminary specs for its next-gen HST. Amtrak's president Boardman claimed that it would be good for at least 180 mph, which makes me wonder if they're talking about easing FRA Tier II requirements to allow for a lighter train.

Shame they can't supplement the Acela fleet with some off the shelf trains. The Swedish X-2000 performed well on the NEC (much better curve taking ability than Acela).

hi55us wrote:

jp1822 wrote: three classes of trains on the NEC:

On the birthday of the Acela Express, I give my condolences to the Acela Regional and the Acela Commuter. These services in my opinion should of been developed more and marketed better. Perhaps we will see their return one day...

The attempt at Acela brand extension was a failure. It goes to show that passengers are paying a premium for the express schedule, not the brand.