Acela

Bostonian pays it forward on Acela

adamg — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:30:34 +0000

BosGuy provides more anecdata that Bostonians aren't so mean after all.

Snow proves too much for Amtrak, again

adamg — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 14:48:56 +0000

Acela engine encased in snow at South Station.

Feds to fund $33-million design of South Station expansion

adamg — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:32:44 +0000

The new South Station: Rendering from MassDOT (compare to 1904 South Station).

The Federal Railroad Administration today awarded the money to the state to begin planning seven new tracks at South Station to support new commuter-rail and Acela service to and from Boston. The new tracks would terminate at what is now the post office on Fort Point Channel; federal and state officials continue to work on moving that facility nearby.

State transportation officials say a $120 million grant to Connecticut will upgrade the tracks between New Haven and Springfield, which will eventually allow for more service between Boston and New York inland, rather than along the coast. Amtrak recently said it would use this route to dramatically cut travel time between the two cities - over the next 40 years.

Tree disrupts Amtrak, commuter rail service through Hyde Park

adamg — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 20:41:22 +0000

The Boston Fire Department is on scene at the main rail line through Hyde Park, where wind toppled a tree onto the inbound catenary lines, causing it to burst into flames. Rail traffic was stopped in both directions as firefighters awaited the arrival of an Amtrak crew who could turn off the power to allow the charred remnants to be removed and to inspect the wires for damage.

Acela train may have hit something in Roslindale, but whatever it was, it wasn't a person

adamg — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:51:26 +0000

Boston Fireman reports Boston rescue crews and Amtrak police rushed to the tracks near Hyde Park Avenue and Cummins Highway around 11:40 a.m. this morning, initially on reports the train hit somebody. Boston Fireman says the incident did mean "residual delays" for train riders on the line.

On the plus side: More time in the snack car!

adamg — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:27:57 +0000

Amtrak reports Acela trains met their schedules only 70% of the time in July, down from 79% over the past year.

Imagine if Acela could get you to New York in under two hours

adamg — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:23:02 +0000

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on a proposal by some grad students at the University of Pennsylvania for re-doing the Northeast Corridor the right way. The catch? It would cost roughly $98 billion, part of which would go for a new inland route through Connecticut and a tunnel under Long Island Sound.

"We started with a different framework than Amtrak," said Bryan Rodda, 26, one of the student authors. "Amtrak said, 'What's the best we can do to make sure it doesn't fall apart?' and then, 'What is the best we can do with what we have to improve travel time?'

"We asked, 'What can we do if we rejected the way it is now and do actual, true high-speed rail and get travel time below two hours?' "

Via The Transit Wire.

Not a moving Acela story

adamg — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:45:04 +0000

Rob Bellinger reports from Forest Hills, where, after 30 minutes, his Acela train to Boston has not moved. It's the fifth straight delayed Acela train he's been on:

... Two functioning commuter trains have been dispatched past our High Speed equipment, and nearly a half dozen Orange Line subway trains have passed us on the adjacent tracks. ...

How do you forget about an entire train?

adamg — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:01:53 +0000

Rob Bellinger uses the crappy WiFi on an Acela train to New York to complain about, among other things:

Now, the train has sat at New Rochelle for a HALF HOUR because, in the words of the conductor, the train operations office "forgot about us."

Could Acela possibly be too fast?

adamg — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:26:41 +0000

I know, I know, sounds silly for a train that, at best, only gets to top speed on small sections of track in Rhode Island. But that's exactly the problem, Paul Levy recently reported the driver of the 4 p.m. Boston-bound train always seems to go too fast on that stretch:

... Last week, when I took it (Dec 1), you could actually smell the asbestos in the back car as he had to jam on the brakes before going over one of the bridges. ...

Levy isn't one of those bloggers who just sits at his keyboard and whines, so he actually fired off a complaint to Amtrak, which said it would get back to him in a month or so:

Four weeks = 28 trains. Thousands of passengers. A potential safety hazard.

Four weeks?

Closest thing we have to high-speed rail in this country loses out in bid for federal funds

adamg — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:11:14 +0000

Dan Grabauskas considers the implications of the Northeast Corridor being left off the initial federal list of high-speed rail projects to get federal stimulus money:

... Nothing breeds success like success. Nothing. And while we can recognize the fact that as a region we‘ve benefited more than other areas of the country in terms of dollars spent is fine. But let’s be clear, spending the money the way proposed makes this is a national jobs bill -- not a national transportation bill. Sound national transportation planning would have dictated some additional investment now in the only example we have of effective high-ish speed rail in the US.

Just a complete mess on Amtrak today

adamg — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:38:06 +0000

A suicide-by-train near Philadelphia (in a word: blecch) and downed wires outside Providence made Fung Wah look like a good alternative along the Northeast Corridor today. Passengers on one train stuck near Providence for four hours issued desperate tweets for help because they were down to one working toilet, but discovered nobody at Amtrak actually uses Twitter.

Diane Danielson, who was on the Providence train from hell, tweeted at one point:

Irony = getting an email titled "Amtrak rewards" while stuck on train that is nearly 3 hours late.

Amtrak testing WiFi on Acela trains

adamg — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:35:59 +0000

Rob Bellinger reports, wonders if this'll kill off LimoLiner.

Acela trains and Jack Daniels - a bad combination

Dave — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:30:44 +0000

It could have been a lot worse for this Canton resident, struck by a speeding Acela train that hit him while he was crossing the tracks trying to get to HoneyDew Donuts™:

Canton Journal reports:

O'Brien added that Daniels was conscious when he saw him after the accident, and that he was looking for his teeth that apparently had been knocked out of his mouth during the accident.

You'll need to read the article to see the full half-assed report of his medical condition -- or should that be the full report of his half-assed medical condition?

Kerry: Acela sucks

adamg — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:39:27 +0000

To seek $1 billion to make it world class.