WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s new Acela trainsets have finally cleared a computer-modeling hurdle that has stalled testing, the New York Times reports.
The trains passed computer modeling tests on the 14th try and have been cleared by the Federal Railroad Administration to begin test runs between Washington and Boston, Amtrak officials told the Times on Friday. Modeling showing the equipment can operate safely is required before the FRA will allow the trains to operate. The company told the Times in a statement that testing on the Northeast Corridor will be “the next step in the safety certification that leads toward launching revenue service.”
The new Acelas were supposed to have been in service in 2021, but have been plagued by difficulty in adapting the European designs on which they are based to the aging, curving Northeast Corridor infrastructure, a far cry from the purpose-built high-speed routes in most of the world. Along with the modeling issue, the trains have so far dealt with a problem with pantographs that lost contact with catenary wire; a need to increase weight over some wheels to improve “behavior on the curves of the NEC,” and an issue with wheelsets found through the computer modeling. [A more detailed summary of the issues to date can be found in “Top 10 News Wire stories of 2023, No. 8: New Acela delays,” Dec. 24, 2023].
The delays have forced Amtrak to keep the first-generation Acelas in service past their intended life at an increasing cost, and despite issues of parts availability: four trainsets are being cannibalized for parts to keep the others running.
The Times report says that train builder Alstom at one point told Amtrak that computer modeling showed the new trains could not run safely on the Northeast Corridor, but the company said it believed it could resolve the problems. Amtrak officials said they gave Alstom the go-ahead to continue developing the trains because they felt they had no choice.
Amtrak’s new Acelas webpage says the equipment is scheduled to enter service this year; an Amtrak inspector general report said the company is aiming for October.
Color me concerned, finally on the 14th computer test Acela equipment passed.
How long is real life testing going to take? Revenue service when?
I have traveled the NEC hundreds of times. I am also in no way a railroad engineer or infrastructure expert. However, to state that “most of the NEC has been straightened” does not appear to be true from my 50 year experience. Just as two examples, the S curve at Elizabeth, NJ and curves in the Philadelphia area do not appear to be any different from PRR days. I do not think those curves were due to 19th century railroads meeting. We also hear that state-of-good-repair needs on the NEC are in the billions of dollars. Perhaps I am incorrect. I would be pleased to hear from Trains readers with expertise.
I take issue with the description of the NEC as “aging, curving Northeast Corridor infrastructure.”
Some of the right of way does date to the 1830’s. The NEC residents apo;ogize for being in at the beginning of the railroad era.
However, the NEC does not use strap rail, or iron T-rail based on John Steven’s carvings on the ship from England. The NEC does not use stone sleepers with a treadway for the horses pulling the cars.
Over the years, most of the NEC has been straightened and the curves are where the 19th Century roads met. Would it be a problem to get Eminent Domain to obtain ROW to straighten those curves? For an Interstate Highway or an Airport Runway, no problem. For a railroad, not likely.
Amtrak maintains its track to the highest standards of any railroad in the USA.
NOTE: Amtrak is a tenant on the RR between New Rochelle NY and New Haven CT. It does not own that line.