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Acela Should Be the Mold for Modern American Trains
Monday, August 09, 2010
I am aboard an Acela Express from Newark to Washington and am amazed at the lack of enthusiasm for these trains from policymakers and even rail advocates, except for this pile of passengers that pay good bucks to use them. These are not all businesspeople traveling on their employers’ dime.
Acelas are maligned because they “only” do 150 mph for the twelve miles in Rhode Island and no faster than that, but it is a fine 125-135 mph product right down to the on-board service people and crews. Passengers seem delighted with it. It has clean restrooms, big windows and, with the wide vestibules, a joy for those with special needs.
I know no two are alike due to modifications and that Amtrak must hire special talent to maintain them, these problems cured with ongoing new equipment procurement with extension options, which in the end requires a dedicated source of funding.
Passenger train advocates should continue to pursue the running of Acela-type trains outside the Northeast Corridor on places where track conditions can accommodate them, pulled by diesels until the day we finally adopt electrification nationwide. I can only imagine the quality of service: modern long-distance trains with a sit-down diners and maybe even sleepers a la the Talgo equipment on Spain’s Renfe between Barcelona and Geneva. Canada’s VIA should be in on this as well.
—James Churchill, NARP Director
Editor’s Note: Amtrak says that the 130 new cars (sleepers, diners and crew dorms) being ordered for long-distance service will contain design elements borrowed from the Acela, including the large windows.