# Acela Express



## Steve4031 (Apr 5, 2003)

I was in Washington, D.C. for the week with three students from my school. Since the students were supervised duirng the day, I had the choice of following the agenda for the teachers each day, or doing my own thing. I was good on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednsday. However, when we had dinner in a restaurant that was across the street form Union Station, I took this as a sign that I should go railroading on Thursday. I Book business class in each directon on the Acela Express, leaving at 12:00 p.m., and returning to D.C. at 7:42 P.m.

What a great day it was. The Acela met the accelerated schedule (2hrs 42 minutes for 225 miles) with hardly any effort. The ride was smooth, and the view enjoyable outside of the large windows. The tilting system made curves at speed practically unnoticeable. The sensation of having a smooth ride at high speed with little background noise is exhillerating. In all, a great day of rail fanning.

The only negative, a rude ticket agent in D.C. After approaching the window to spend nearly three hundred dollars on my ticket, I got reprimanded for not waiting to be called. Then she carried on a conversation with her coworker while she prcocessed me. I reported her to the supervisor immediately. I dont know if anything happened, but I did wander back by her window when I saw the Supevisor go there, and then stood there and glowered at her in what I hoped was an intimidating manner. Why assign these creatures to the premium service windows?

On board the Acela, however, service was excellent. When I went to the snack car on the return run, about an hour out of D.C.. she was nearly out of everything. I was dissapponted and started to walk away. The lady seemed concerned about my dissapointment, called me back, and chatted with me for five minutes. Then encouraged me to buy something. I bought M&M's that I wouldn't have because of her interst in me. During the conversationg, I discovered that she new nothing about trains, but she did have a lot of pride in her job which was very important.

In New York, I observered that the people who control access to the waiting area for Amtrak passengers were very helpful to many passengers.

Overall, had a great trip and would do it againg tomorrow!


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## AlanB (Apr 5, 2003)

Thanks for that report Steve. 

Sounds like you had a pretty good day overall.


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## Amfleet (Apr 5, 2003)

Sounds like a great trip Steve.


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## carknocker51 (Apr 6, 2003)

I'm looking forward to my NY/PEN to Was/Union portion of my upcoming trip in May..alot of people have had the same job's for year's & can be indiffernt at times,but I hope thats the only problems I run into...the Acela x-press sounds good to me..


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## AlanB (Apr 6, 2003)

carknocker51 said:


> alot of people have had the same job's for year's & can be indiffernt at times,but I hope thats the only problems I run into.


Carknocker,

Sadly that's a problem that is not unique to Amtrak, pick any industry and you will find employees who work really hard, some who just do their jobs, and some who shouldn't be working there. It's simply a fact of life and something that we have to contend with.

Thankfully I've encountered far more Amtrak employees who want to do their jobs. I've only hit a few dead beats in my travels.



> the Acela x-press sounds good to me..


I'm sure that you'll enjoy your trip regardless of whether you travel in First Class or Business. Despite the breaking in troubles; from a passenger's point of view the train is still a real beauty. 

It has nice comfortable seats, good lighting, and wonderfully large windows to look out of. The only train car that Amtrak regularly runs with larger windows than the Acela's, is a Superliner Sightseer Lounge.


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## battalion51 (Apr 6, 2003)

I'm hoping to take a trip down to Washington when I'm in Baltimore this summer to visit a friend. I'm thinking I'll probably take MARC down and come back on Acela Express, but I haven't completely decided yet.


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## Amfleet (Apr 6, 2003)

What you may want to do is take MARC down on the Camden Line, then the Acela Express up on the NEC. This will give you a chance to get some new route mileage. Remember MARC only operates on weekdays.


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## Bill Haithcoat (Apr 7, 2003)

Steve, I am encouraged by your report, I plan to give Acela a try later this year. Hope my experience is even half that good.


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## Steve4031 (Apr 8, 2003)

Bill Haithcoat said:


> Steve, I am encouraged by your report, I plan to give Acela a try later this year. Hope my experience is even half that good.


It's worth the money and the effort. I would try to ride it for a longer trip than Baltimore to Washington. You would hardly get a sense of the greatness of this equipment, and the fare would be high for such a short ride.


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## battalion51 (Apr 8, 2003)

It actually isn't that high. I priced two AAA Adults in Business Class One Way for $70.70. I have been on Acela before from New Haven-New York (First Class) which really gave me a feel for the equipment. I want to see what the equipment can do though on Amtrak territory with the tilting mchanism at high speed, compared to what the other two trains I take will achieve (I will also take 98 and 195). So I would really like to compare them all over he same track in a relatively short period of time.


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## Steve4031 (Apr 9, 2003)

That's what I was trying to do, but of course I rode Acela both ways. I have been over the same tracks with Amfleet and heritage fleet equipment. You will notice a marked improvement with Acela.


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## tp49 (Apr 9, 2003)

I'm not sure, but I think the Camden Line is only used during rush hour in the peak direction (to DC in the AM and to Baltimore in the PM) so just check and make sure.


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## Superliner Diner (Apr 9, 2003)

tp49 said:


> I'm not sure, but I think the Camden Line is only used during rush hour in the peak direction (to DC in the AM and to Baltimore in the PM) so just check and make sure.


TP49,

While it operates only on weekdays, MARC's Camden line does have departures in both directions throughout the day. There is a considerable number of people who work in Baltimore but live in Washington or in between. And keeping them running all day helps with the shortage of daytime storage space in and outside of Washington Union Station. For those who have a choice, they prefer the Camden line because it ends at downtown Baltimore (and near the baseball and football stadiums), whereas Baltimore Penn Station is north of downtown.


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