Acela discussion

[Anderson]

Amtrak already carries 75% of NY-WAS air+rail traffic, even with the current "slow" schedules. You'll never eliminate all NY-WAS air traffic, because some people are flying to make connecting flights, or maybe their final destination is near the airport. Where they need to speed up the service is NY - BOS, and the first thing they need to do is get consistent 70 mph service between New Haven and New Rochelle, but that will require the cooperation of Metro North and the State of Connecticut. No maglevs needed.

At the time, DCA-LGA on AA (IIRC) still ran close to hourly. I recall it being a big deal when they cut one midday frequency.

[I'm also not sure if that 75% included onward connections on either side, but connecting traffic only needs 3-5x/day, not hourly service. It's where the market is /now/, but it wasn't there /then/. Also, killing the shuttle service would have given Amtrak more pricing pressure on the Acela side.]

 

[Acela150]

As of this afternoon (2/20) TS 8 is undergoing COT&S with the 6 passenger cars in Bear and the two Power Cars (2014/2019) in Wilmington. Also, TS 4 is one of the first trainsets that was semi-retired. The power cars (2001/2003) are in Wilmington for work.

TS 8 is wrapping up its COT&S work. And TS 4 won’t be coming back. Someone stirred that rumor to me.

 

[trainsupercommuter]

I was checking out the times on the Acela 2190 on railrat. Looking here, it is dwelling for over 15 minutes at New Haven. That seems like a very long time, if it only stopped for 3 minutes, it could make it to Boston at 8:45-8:50 and let people get to the office by the start of business.

Anyone know why it is dwelling so long, are there scheduling problems that prevent it from leaving earlier?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

I was checking out the times on the Acela 2190 on railrat. Looking here, it is dwelling for over 15 minutes at New Haven. That seems like a very long time, if it only stopped for 3 minutes, it could make it to Boston at 8:45-8:50 and let people get to the office by the start of business.

Anyone know why it is dwelling so long, are there scheduling problems that prevent it from leaving earlier? View attachment 36394

This shows that it arrived early at NHV, so it has to wait till it's scheduled departure time.

Below is it's scheduled arrival and departure times
6:51a | 6:53a - New Haven, CT - Union Station (NHV)

 

[OBS]

I was checking out the times on the Acela 2190 on railrat. Looking here, it is dwelling for over 15 minutes at New Haven. That seems like a very long time, if it only stopped for 3 minutes, it could make it to Boston at 8:45-8:50 and let people get to the office by the start of business.

Anyone know why it is dwelling so long, are there scheduling problems that prevent it from leaving earlier? View attachment 36394

In terms of arriving earlier, you are only looking at one part of the equation. There are a large number of MBTA commuter trains arriving into Bos during that time frame, so it has to fit into the window that was scheduled amongst the commuter traffic operating between PVD and Bos.

 

[trainsupercommuter]

This shows that it arrived early at NHV, so it has to wait till it's scheduled departure time.

Below is it's scheduled arrival and departure times
6:51a | 6:53a - New Haven, CT - Union Station (NHV)

I’ve checked a few days and it seems to dwell for 10-15 minutes everyday. So the schedule is far over padded for STM-NHV.

 

[Anderson]

I’ve checked a few days and it seems to dwell for 10-15 minutes everyday. So the schedule is far over padded for STM-NHV.

It's a good question whether that's an Amtrak-induced thing or if MNRR insists on it.

 

[trainsupercommuter]

Here’s the next day. Getting there at 6:39 but it’s scheduled departure is all the way at 6:53, 15 minutes later.

I agree that maybe this has something to do with MBTA schedules or bridge lowering.

 

[Steve4031]

Acela seat assignments: Is it possibles to change seats after trip started?

I was primarily curious because I will be traveling from Washington to Boston. I selected 13f in car 3. This will give me a full window on right side if seats match what I see in the app. If my strategy doesn’t work I’m hoping maybe I can switch seats once onboard using the app.

 

[PRR 60]

I was primarily curious because I will be traveling from Washington to Boston. I selected 13f in car 3. This will give me a full window on right side if seats match what I see in the app. If my strategy doesn’t work I’m hoping maybe I can switch seats once onboard using the app.

The answer is yes. I've done it for exactly that reason. Even on the train and underway, just open the app, pull up your trip, and pick a new seat.

 

[MARC Rider]

Went up to New York yesterday on the Acela. First class both ways, using upgrade coupons one way and points the other. The fares were crazy expensive and the trains were as full as I've ever seen them. The first class menu this week was pretty good - I had an omelet for breakfast because the attendant told me there was no maple syrup for the baked French toast. I had the lasagna for dinner on the way back, but I really wasn't all that hungry because we spent the afternoon having Chinese hot pot for lunch. The train was pretty much on time northbound, and we were doing close to 150 mph in the "racetrack" section of central New Jersey. Southbound left New York (2167) about 10 minutes late, and we lost more time and arrived in Baltimore about 25 minutes late. Lots of slow running due to heat restrictions. We didn't even hit 100 mph north of Trenton, then maximum of 110 mph between Trenton and Wilmington, with a good bit of ~40 mph running (interference with commuter trains?) Once we got into Maryland, we were doing 125 mph, which is a little slow, as they often do 130-135 in places. Looks like they're hiring some younger first-class attendants; it's good to see that there will be a next generation of OBS. Moynihan Train hall was as crowded as I've ever seen it, lots of people are on the move in the Northeast this summer. The Metropolitan lounge was so full that we couldn't find two seats together. I recommend using the elevators by the ticketed passenger waiting area to avoid the cattle lines to reach the platform, but get there early, as we weren't the only ones with this idea. It certainly beats using the West End Concourse if you have luggage.

When we got to Baltimore, we had some trouble getting out of the garage. Somehow the magnetic strip on my parking ticket got corrupted and it wouldn't work at the pay station or the gate. We needed to back up, bang on the door of the office and talk to the attendants. Their little credit card machine didn't work, and I had to drive back down to a pay station of the lowest level of the garage to pay under their control (at least something worked) and get a new ticket that got us out of the garage. Then we couldn't use the direct ramp to I-83 because Charles St. was closed off for Artscape (a local arts festival), so we had to go down St. Paul St. and take a tour of the seamier parts of downtown Baltimore, including the state penitentiary, to find an on-ramp for I-83.

I was able to find a copy of the 1974 edition of "All Aboard with E. M. Frimbo" at eh Strand Book Store. All in all, it was a pretty good day, but New York was a little hot.

 

[BlackDiamond]

Went up to New York yesterday on the Acela. First class both ways, using upgrade coupons one way and points the other. The fares were crazy expensive and the trains were as full as I've ever seen them. The first class menu this week was pretty good - I had an omelet for breakfast because the attendant told me there was no maple syrup for the baked French toast. I had the lasagna for dinner on the way back, but I really wasn't all that hungry because we spent the afternoon having Chinese hot pot for lunch. The train was pretty much on time northbound, and we were doing close to 150 mph in the "racetrack" section of central New Jersey. Southbound left New York (2167) about 10 minutes late, and we lost more time and arrived in Baltimore about 25 minutes late. Lots of slow running due to heat restrictions. We didn't even hit 100 mph north of Trenton, then maximum of 110 mph between Trenton and Wilmington, with a good bit of ~40 mph running (interference with commuter trains?) Once we got into Maryland, we were doing 125 mph, which is a little slow, as they often do 130-135 in places. Looks like they're hiring some younger first-class attendants; it's good to see that there will be a next generation of OBS. Moynihan Train hall was as crowded as I've ever seen it, lots of people are on the move in the Northeast this summer. The Metropolitan lounge was so full that we couldn't find two seats together. I recommend using the elevators by the ticketed passenger waiting area to avoid the cattle lines to reach the platform, but get there early, as we weren't the only ones with this idea. It certainly beats using the West End Concourse if you have luggage.

When we got to Baltimore, we had some trouble getting out of the garage. Somehow the magnetic strip on my parking ticket got corrupted and it wouldn't work at the pay station or the gate. We needed to back up, bang on the door of the office and talk to the attendants. Their little credit card machine didn't work, and I had to drive back down to a pay station of the lowest level of the garage to pay under their control (at least something worked) and get a new ticket that got us out of the garage. Then we couldn't use the direct ramp to I-83 because Charles St. was closed off for Artscape (a local arts festival), so we had to go down St. Paul St. and take a tour of the seamier parts of downtown Baltimore, including the state penitentiary, to find an on-ramp for I-83.

I was able to find a copy of the 1974 edition of "All Aboard with E. M. Frimbo" at eh Strand Book Store. All in all, it was a pretty good day, but New York was a little hot.

Thanks for your report. My son and I have an Acela trip planned for Labor Day Weekend PHL - BOS and return. Hopefully the heat restrictions will be over by then.

 

[MARC Rider]

OK, I just got this in an email:



They gave me 1,000 AGR points because my Acela was 25 minutes late. While I wish they were AGR TQP, I'm not complaining.

 

[Explore]

What are the best seats for southbound travel?

 

[Acela150]

TS 13 has had its COT&S work completed as of last Saturday. TS 14 is now up!

 

[BlackDiamond]

Concerning Acela seating, from my last trip on the Acela, it seemed to me that the odd numbered rows had the best alignment with the windows. We were in an even numbered row and the alignment was OK but not as good.

The other thing to consider is whether it is an "airline style" row or a table row. A table has the advantage of the table for working, eating etc. but the drawback of having to sit across from a stranger for your trip. Normally being a somewhat reserved introvert type I would tend to shy away from this, although I admit on a recent trip I had some interesting conversations across a table with a couple of young men who had flown into NYC from California to attend the US Open Tennis and were taking a jaunt from NYC to Philly.

 

[jonathanhillb`]

2250 was 2 hours delayed this morning due to Pantograph issues. 2252 was going fine until NHV, where we also suffered pantograph issues, and it was canceled. Loco 2038 was the issue on 2252.

2250 arrived to pick up 2252's passengers in NHV with only one raised pantograph, so let's hope this one holds for the rest of the ride.

 

[Acela150]

2250 was 2 hours delayed this morning due to Pantograph issues. 2252 was going fine until NHV, where we also suffered pantograph issues, and it was canceled. Loco 2038 was the issue on 2252.

2250 arrived to pick up 2252's passengers in NHV with only one raised pantograph, so let's hope this one holds for the rest of the ride.

2150 had a cab signal failure past Baltimore and was wyed in Philly. 2152 had a broken Pantograph in NHV. But it’s been a rough day for the Boston bound Acela’s today (10/21). Turns were all messed up.

 

[daybeers]

Not enough spares...new ones can't come soon enough

 

[JoeRids]

On Acelas departing Was, Nyp, or Bos at 10:00am, does the passenger in FC have the option of breakfast or lunch? Can they choose to eat later in the trip (provided the crew still has time to serve it and clean up?)

 

[IAlam]

On Acelas departing Was, Nyp, or Bos at 10:00am, does the passenger in FC have the option of breakfast or lunch? Can they choose to eat later in the trip (provided the crew still has time to serve it and clean up?)

I do it all the time, usually when I'm coming back from DC to NY I ask them to delay my meal until Philly. That way they can get me and anyone who jumps on there at the same time.

 

[TomPittsfieldMA]

I do it all the time, usually when I'm coming back from DC to NY I ask them to delay my meal until Philly. That way they can get me and anyone who jumps on there at the same time.

When I took it last Friday northbound from WAS to NYP, the choice of meals was offered. Breakfast orders were served first, lunch later so the timing seemed to work out naturally

 

[Acela150]

TS 13 has had its COT&S work completed as of last Saturday. TS 14 is now up!

TS 14 was sent to NY today, it was swapped with TS 16.

 

[JuniusLivonius]

What's up with #2130 (WASH - NYP) and why does it only run Friday night?
Is it a quirk of the last day of weekday service that can't be done in the middle of the week? Does it return to Washington over the weekend so the pool of trainsets remains the same for the weekdays?