Acela 21 (Avelia Liberty) development, testing and deployment (2Q 2024)

[Acela150]

Railfans are an impatient lot. Far better to be safe than sorry! Be thorough. Be right. The stakes are incredibly high here. The careful approach to certification will (we presume) raise the odds a successful revenue rollout and relatively trouble free revenue service. We hope.

Indeed they are!

But I can agree with your post as a whole. Hopefully we will see them soon in service!

 

[Matt Johnson]

Halfway through November now and no sign of testing picking up. Still waiting for FRA approval?

 

[Acela150]

Halfway through November now and no sign of testing picking up. Still waiting for FRA approval?

Yup.

 

[UserNameRequired]

I will be in the NEC area in mid-January, 2025. How about another round of rumors/speculation (that this forum thrives on) about whether I can ride on new equipment or not?

 

[Bob Dylan]

I will be in the NEC area in mid-January, 2025. How about another round of rumors/speculation (that this forum thrives on) about whether I can ride on new equipment or not?

I'll take the Over on this! Say 2027!

 

[Matt Johnson]

Apparently they failed some emergency egress test so I'm beginning to wonder if these things will ever turn a wheel in service.

 

[Steve4031]

Apparently they failed some emergency egress test so I'm beginning to wonder if these things will ever turn a wheel in service.

So these idiots who designed this train did not think about the regulations for people to get off of this train in an emergency? Or did the idiots in congress change the regulations?

On the Acela they used metal bridge plates to move us to a regional when the Acela’s computer decided to not reboot in between stations. The same thing could be done with the new trains and the Siemens trains that are being built to replace the amfleet cars.

 

[sportbiker]

Apparently they failed some emergency egress test so I'm beginning to wonder if these things will ever turn a wheel in service.

What makes me suspicious about this type of report *now* is that egress tests are typically static tests done before any dynamic tests start. It’s waaaay too late in the process to be only now doing those tests.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

Or did the idiots in congress change the regulations?

That can happen, since regulations follow the law, but regulations themselves are made by the executive branch and published in the Federal Register. The Supreme Court has now thrown a monkey wrench into the game though with "Loper Bright / Relentless," I guess they're calling it, or "overturning Chevron." It's likely businesses more aggressive than Amtrak will try to take advantage of it, as far as I can tell, and I don't know anything much.

So let's look at the Federal Register!

The major rule seems to be from 2008, "Passenger Train Emergency Systems; Emergency Communication, Emergency Egress, and Rescue Access."

Recently we have final rules:

• 11/2020: Texas Central Railroad High-Speed Rail Safety Standards
• 11/2018: Passenger Equipment Safety Standards; Standards for Alternative Compliance and High-Speed Trainsets
• 2/2016: Safety Glazing Standards (remember that one?)
• 12/2015: Passenger Train Exterior Side Door Safety
• etc.

But what about proposed rules, the kind of thing this train might get the disappearing railroad blues about:

• 4/3/2023: Passenger Equipment Safety Standards; Standards for High-Speed Trainsets
• then just the proposed rules that led to the above rules

That proposed rule is 67 pages long in three-column format. You can speed read the summary though...

FRA is proposing to amend its Passenger Equipment Safety Standards to modernize Tier I and Tier III safety appliance requirements; update the pre-revenue compliance documentation and testing requirements; establish crashworthiness requirements for individual Tier I-compliant vehicles equipped with crash energy management (CEM); establish standards for Tier III inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) and movement of defective equipment (MODE); incorporate general safety requirements from FRA's Railroad Locomotive Safety Standards for Tier III trainsets; and provide for periodic inspection of emergency lighting to ensure proper functioning.

... but I wonder about that date, April 2023. The Texas one only took about eight months to go from proposed to final, for what it's worth.

Here's the search I used, on "egress," limited to FRA: https://www.federalregister.gov/doc...tions[type][]=PRORULE&conditions[type][]=RULE

 

[Matt Johnson]

Yeah the only thing I really know is that another year has come and gone with no signs of movement with these things. We'll see what 2025 holds I guess.

 

[MARC Rider]

So these idiots who designed this train did not think about the regulations for people to get off of this train in an emergency? Or did the idiots in congress change the regulations?

On the Acela they used metal bridge plates to move us to a regional when the Acela’s computer decided to not reboot in between stations. The same thing could be done with the new trains and the Siemens trains that are being built to replace the amfleet cars.

I think it's highly unlikely that these trains were designed with no means of emergency egress. My suspicion is that if, indeed, there was some sort of test failure, it probably had to do with the crew failing the test, not the equipment. But of course, none of use actually knows exactly what is going on, and I suspect that the "idiots" who designed the train probably know more about train design than random railfans like us who post here.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood." - Theodore Roosevelt

 

[Matt Johnson]

Some official status updates on this 5 year late $2.3 billion acquisition might not be too much to ask for though.

 

[Acela150]

What I can say publicly about “emergency egress” on the new trainsets is that it’s plentiful as far as windows go. As far as the doors go each door has the ability to be opened in an emergency. The windows are differently designed then the traditional emergency window.

 

[John Santos]

The description is vague enough that it could be something as simple as the instructions and warnings on the exits are ambiguous or incomplete or incorrect in some way or don't meet the standards for size, colors, durability or some other aspect, or as complex as the exits can't be opened as they should after a collision and require a major redesign and years of delay. "Egress" includes window exits, side doors and end doors, so the issue could be any or all of them. In addition, many trains and buses have exits in the floor or roof to be used if it is on its side.

What every one wants to know is how long will this delay the introduction to service?