AMTRAK REPLACING ACELA TRAINSETS

I think the Acelas were built with a liketime of 15 years.  So actually, that does sound about right.

Or the new sets will be the "Acela", and the older stuff bumped down to lesser services, like the old Metroliner cars. (Rebuilt to be cab cars with Amfleet.)

Too bad that Amtrak has no intention to extend the wires on the NEC southbound, westbound,  and northbound so more can enjoy the covenience and options of Mass transit. 

Too bad that Amtrak has no intention to extend the wires on the NEC southbound, westbound,  and northbound so more can enjoy the covenience and options of Mass transit. 

Amtrak has been woefully underfunded for its entire existence. If the Pennsy found the extension of catenary beyond Harrisburg too costly in 1948, how in the economy of the past 20 years could that even be considered plausible?

Only with a HUGE infusion of federal 'high-speed' dollars could it remotely be accomplished.

The Acela itself has been a fabulous success in terms of ridership. While I am a bit surprised to learn of the trainset replacements so soon, if their service life was spec'ed as 15 years, so be it. If the new sets are an improvement, and they ought to be, look for even more ridership increases.

I wonder who will be chosen to build the replacements?

This move is probably related to their recent decision to not buy extra cars for the existing Acela trainsets.

---PCJ

1. I wonder if the next generation high speed trains will correct the ridiculous flaw in the Acelas which prevented them from reaching their potential top speeds in most of the corridor.  I'm referring to the report that someone thought passengers should have a little more "elbow room" and designed the cars a bit too wide.  As a result there was a danger of them sideswiping equipment on adjacent tracks when rounding curves with the tilt mechanism activated.

...or was that just an "urban legend"?

2. A 15-year service life?  Meanwhile, VIA Rail manages to provide comfortable and dependable service with equipment originally designed in the 1950's.  They even loaned some of it to Amtrak!

The GG1's incredible lifespan and then the 15 year lifespan of Acela? There was serious discussion about making new GG1's as the originals were being withdrawn but there was no longer a source for the fabrication of the truck frames. So this is what "progress" looks like in terms of high speed rail? Compared to other nations, this is not high speed rail. To me, it's like running at full tilt on O27 track..until the infrastructure is straightened out and some real estate purchased to ease alignments, all of this is sort of a half baked compromise. Tilting trains to get around tight curvature? To me it's either do it right the first time or don't bother with endless work arounds and end runs. It could all be done incrementally. The CNSM ran interurbans normally up to 80-90 MPH.. on friction trucks for petes sake. If you call putting a NASCAR engine on a model T frame, innovative, you have a clear picture of what high speed rail in the U.S is all about. Third rate.