Amtrak is set to begin operation of a new fleet of high-speed rail cars on Thursday, with the Train No. 2153, the first of a new generation of Acela trains, leaving Boston’s South Station for Washington D.C. at 5:55 a.m.
Five new trains, one of which will be making a whistle-stop press tour Wednesday on its way up the Northeast Corridor, are the first in of 28 new sets that — after years of delays — will replace the current rolling stock of Amtrak’s Acela fleet by 2027.
The new trains, built in Hornell, N.Y. by French multinational builder Alstom, cost $2.3 billion, and are at the center of a fleet modernization effort by Amtrak.
The new trains can be identified by a longer, sleeker snout than their first-generation predecessors and a bright white-and-blue paint job.
The next-generation Acela cars have 27% more seats than the outgoing Acela models, and utilize a hydraulic self-leveling system to smooth out the ride along curves sections of track. The railroad also touts improved on-board WiFi service and individual power outlets and reading lights at each seat.
Critically, the trains also weigh less than the outgoing models — which were two times heavier than their contemporary European counterparts — allowing for less wear and tear on the train cars’ suspension as well as on Amtrak’s rails.
The trains, which are in theory capable of running at speeds in excess of 180 mph, will only run at a top speed of 160 mph on the fastest sections of the Northeast Corridor, where track conditions and the design of the overhead catenary power lines are a limiting factor.
But that’s 10 mph faster than the current Acela fleet, which tops out at 150 mph.
