Acela Service Cancelled till Summer

[AmtrakFan]

This Stinks.

 

[AlanB]

As far as LSA's are concerned some will be furloughed due a low number of jobs to replace current positions (the disappearance of a First Class attendant being the biggie).

Why would First Class attendant jobs be disapearing, when Metroliners offer First Class service?

Amtrak was just about to eliminate all Metroliners, to head to an all Acela service. Now that things have gone exactly the opposite way, with Metroliners replacing almost all of the now cancelled Acela's, there should be very few furloughs. I think when the dust settles, there will be 4 less Metroliners per day, than there would have been Acela's.

I'm just passin along what I've heard through the pipeline.

Ok, I promise that I won't shoot the messenger. :lol:

I was just wondering, since it didn't make much sense to me. :blink:

Well I'm still a bit confused as to why all of the jobs disappeared, since the NY - DC market is almost back to normal with train frequencies, even if they are using Metroliners instead of Acelas. However B51's news is confirmed.

I rode a Metroliner in first class and was lucky enough to catch one of the best FC attendants that Amtrak has. I've had the pleasure of being served by this gentleman several times in the past. He told me that 40 people were furloughed from Acela service thanks to the cancellation. He says that another 10 perhaps even 20 may get laid off come this week.

Additionally I noted sadly, that it appears as though Amtrak has also either suspended or cancelled the Acela food service contract. The food choices were typical Amtrak commissary items. For lunch the choices were a cheeseburger, a chicken sandwich on a roll, and a Genoa Salami wrap. Instead of 750ml bottled wine, that one has to remove the cork from, I got the mini twist off cap bottles that one would buy in the cafe car.

Still got real silverware and cloth napkin, but all glass was gone. No glass plates, no glass coffee cups, and no drinking glasses. All paper and/or plastic.

It's bad enough that First Class customers have no choice but to return to the old equipment, and I do understand that it wasn't Amtrak's choice or fault that it happened. But now Amtrak seems determined to make the experience even worse for those passengers by serving inferior product by comparison to that which was served on Acela and even on the Metroliners for the last few years. Still costs just as much though for that inferior product. :blink:

The one bright spot, aside from my favorite attendant, was that I did get to ride in one of those refurbished Club cars with the faux leather seats. That was quite nice.

 

[engine999]

I agree Alan. To me Amtrak should just transfer as many the amenities over to the metroliner equipment as possible. I take it the lack of sufficient storage place is the main reaason. But I dont see why they cant put a few extra convection ovens in the amcans. Also, why not add the extra attentands to the metroliner equipment to atleast have some extra service dispite the lack of the train set.

 

[AlanB]

I agree Alan. To me Amtrak should just transfer as many the amenities over to the metroliner equipment as possible. I take it the lack of sufficient storage place is the main reaason. But I dont see why they cant put a few extra convection ovens in the amcans. Also, why not add the extra attentands to the metroliner equipment to atleast have some extra service dispite the lack of the train set.

Transfer it? It was already there. I rode on a Metroliner back in March from Philly to NYP. I received a typical Acela style meal on that train, even though it was a Metroliner using Amfleet equipment.

For this trip today, now that Acela isn't running, I got food quality that I could have received by walking to the cafe car. So basically I paid a premium to have someone serve me. That's it! :angry:

I've always received higher quality food in first class, be it Metroliner, Acela, or in a LD's dining car. But now that Acela isn't running, Amtrak seems to be trying to punish the loyal travelers who are still riding the trains, even though their favorite train is out of commision.

As for the attendants, my train had two. Except for sold out trains or close to sold out, I usually only see two attendants. Sold out's usually seem to get three, although I have seen a couple of sold out's with only two.

 

[jccollins]

The one bright spot, aside from my favorite attendant, was that I did get to ride in one of those refurbished Club cars with the faux leather seats. That was quite nice.

Yes, we have ONE of those special club cars on the west coast with the NICE leather seats. It is assigned as business class on Trains 799/798, the roundtrip coastal LAX-SLO-LAX daytime Pacific Surfliner run.

It is well worth the extra $14 to upgrade from coach for the five hour run from LAX-SLO (or vice versa). It sure beats riding in a refurbished Horizon coach, and the muffins/juice for the morning run and snack pack for the afternoon run seal the deal.

 

[AmtrakWPK]

The furlough idea does seem a bit strange, especially if you consider that with slower trains on the same routes, there should be MORE employee-hours involved right now rather than less, if the train frequency is roughly the same on the same routes. Something doesn't fit here. Maybe since they are in the midst of the budget battle, Amtrak wants to be able to show that they are at least TRYING to save money while they are losing the Acela revenue, even if it is penny-wise/pound-foolish.. I wonder what their net loss actually is, though, right now. Are they charging substantially less for the metroliner tickets on those replacements for the Acelas?

 

[AlanB]

The one bright spot, aside from my favorite attendant, was that I did get to ride in one of those refurbished Club cars with the faux leather seats.  That was quite nice.

Yes, we have ONE of those special club cars on the west coast with the NICE leather seats. It is assigned as business class on Trains 799/798, the roundtrip coastal LAX-SLO-LAX daytime Pacific Surfliner run.

I doubt that you've got one of those left on the west coast any more. They've all been recalled to the east coast to provide a full fleet of Metroliners until the Acela shutdown is over. In fact all Metroliner cars have been recalled, not just the club cars. The Downeaster lost theirs and Chicago services lost theirs.

 

[AlanB]

Are they charging substantially less for the metroliner tickets on those replacements for the Acelas?

No. Metroliners are typically $5 to $20 less than an Acela, depending on distance. The first class supplement is the same for both services.

 

[Trogdor]

Yes, we have ONE of those special club cars on the west coast with the NICE leather seats.  It is assigned as business class on Trains 799/798, the roundtrip coastal LAX-SLO-LAX daytime Pacific Surfliner run.  

I doubt that you've got one of those left on the west coast any more. They've all been recalled to the east coast to provide a full fleet of Metroliners until the Acela shutdown is over. In fact all Metroliner cars have been recalled, not just the club cars. The Downeaster lost theirs and Chicago services lost theirs.

I think the Surfliner had a rebuilt Horizon cafe/club-dinette. I doubt those were sent to cover the Metroliners. From what I understand, Amtrak sent the spare Horizons that were in northern California over to Albany, as well as "spare" (sic) Horizons in Chicago. I haven't seen any non-Hiawatha trains in a while, so I don't know if the handful of club-dinettes in Chicago are still on the Wolverine or not.

 

[battalion51]

With regards to the Acelas, apparently the sets are on the move from their "long term storage" locations to the Bombardier facility in Barre, VT for repair. The sets haven't done too well in "storage" as 2021 has already been tagged while under "heavy security."

I personally do not feel like Bombardier is solely to blame for the Acela failures as they have produced a number of superior products including the GO-style Bi-Level Commuter car (which is the industry standard for Commuter cars these days), the Superliner II's, Subway cars, as well as a number of products for the overseas groups in Europe.

 

[engine999]

Will amtrak just tow the sets to the Bombardier facility, or will they be dissasembled and ship someother way. Do the aceals tow poorly, or have to be taken at a slower speed then conventional equipment out side of the corridor?

 

[battalion51]

They're being towed by MP15's to the facility. I'd imagine they're beign handled carfully with the brake problem, likely moving at freight speeds.

 

[AlanB]

With regards to the Acelas, apparently the sets are on the move from their "long term storage" locations to the Bombardier facility in Barre, VT for repair. The sets haven't done too well in "storage" as 2021 has already been tagged while under "heavy security."

Well as of today, 4 definately and possibly 5 sets, are just sitting in an Amtrak yard near Providence RI.

I personally do not feel like Bombardier is solely to blame for the Acela failures as they have produced a number of superior products including the GO-style Bi-Level Commuter car (which is the industry standard for Commuter cars these days), the Superliner II's, Subway cars, as well as a number of products for the overseas groups in Europe.

I don't blame Bombardier totally either. After all it's my understanding that Amtrak is having a similar, if not identical problem with the brakes on the Amfleet II's. That's old technology, so it's not that its something new fangled.

On the other hand, one does have to wonder why a part that should have lasted for 1 million miles is failing after the trains have only half or less that mileage. Were inferior metals used, was the design modifications a problem (since this brake is basicaly the same as the rest of Amtrak's brakes), or is it simply the added weight of the cars?

 

[Ray L. Nutz]

The Bombardier Facility in Barre Vt has been closed for more than a year and no employees left. Are you sure the Acela's are not going to Platsburg were only Bombardier facility is in North east ??

 

[battalion51]

I'm just passing on what I've seen on the net.

 

[AlanB]

And now that the new Timetable that started April 25th eliminated all Metroliner trains, here is the new schedule of Metroliner trains: :lol:

Seriously though, here's the latest press release from Amtrak:

May 2, 2005  New Metroliner Schedule Begins

Schedule further restores premium service between Boston-New York-Washington  

WASHINGTON - Starting today Amtrak begins weekday on-the-hour Metroliner service, with First Class accommodations, between New York and Washington, D.C. between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm. This restores peak hourly Amtrak departures offering business and First Class service, following the suspension of Acela Express service last month.

Additionally, the new Northeast Corridor schedule starting today includes four weekday Metroliner departures between Boston and New York during peak hours. Also between New York and Boston, Amtrak is operating ten Regional service roundtrips as well as using additional equipment on other services to increase capacity.

Weekends also offer premium Metroliner service between Boston, New York and Washington. Four Metroliners will operate both weekend days between Boston and New York and Washington. An additional four Saturday and 13 Sunday Metroliners will operate between New York and Washington.

Download the new schedules. (Note:  This is a PDF file)

The full press release from Amtrak can be found here.

 

[Allen Dee]

The one bright spot, aside from my favorite attendant, was that I did get to ride in one of those refurbished Club cars with the faux leather seats.  That was quite nice.

Yes, we have ONE of those special club cars on the west coast with the NICE leather seats. It is assigned as business class on Trains 799/798, the roundtrip coastal LAX-SLO-LAX daytime Pacific Surfliner run.

It is well worth the extra $14 to upgrade from coach for the five hour run from LAX-SLO (or vice versa). It sure beats riding in a refurbished Horizon coach, and the muffins/juice for the morning run and snack pack for the afternoon run seal the deal.

JC,

Business class on single-level Pacific Surfliner trains used to be provided by Amfleet I Custom Class cars located next to a full Horizon cafe car.

I saw 799 as she passed through SBA this AM. It was Club Car 58108.

In what region of the country did this car formerly operate prior to being reassigned to the Surfliner?

 

[Superliner Diner]

I spent last night picking apart the timetable online, and there are a lot of changes to Regionals, Keystones, and the Shuttles in New England that they don't mention in the release above. These changes all supercede what you see in the April 25th system timetable.

First, to provide an extra round trip between Boston and New York/Washington, Trains 141 and 148 on weekdays, and Trains 140 and 143 on weekends have been rerouted to Boston (but keep the same numbers). They normally run through between Springfield and Washington.

Trains 141 and 143 originating in Boston are hard to understand, since they don't really fill a timeslot that replaces Acela. These trains are the first ones out of Boston in the early morning, long before 2151 would have operated on weekdays, and several hours before the first weekend Acela on the timetable.

New Shuttles have been added between Springfield and New Haven to connect with these trains. Shuttle 441 connects to 141 at New Haven on weekdays. Shuttle 443 connects to 143 at New Haven on weekends. Shuttle 418 (448 designation is taken already by LAKE SHORE LIMITED) connects from 148 at New Haven on weekdays, and Shuttle 414 connects from 140 at New Haven on weekends. Not sure why 414 was used and not 440.

Other changes to the Shuttles:

The April 25th timetable featured the first shuttle (454) that connected at New Haven from an Acela Express rather than a regional. However, since there won't be a 2154 Acela for quite a while, there is no 454 either. There also is no 474; the equipment was shifted to a 472 Shuttle instead. On weekends, there is another round trip: southbound 465 (connecting to 165 in New Haven) and northbound 468 (connecting from 168 in New Haven).

Other changes to the Regionals:

Many Regionals have been rescheduled to better space them apart and to fill voids where there are no Metroliners substituting for the Acelas. Do not rely on the April 25th timetable!

A few northbound trains have swapped timeslots. Train 172 runs one hour earlier, departing Washington at 6:30 AM, while Train 130 runs an hour later, leaving Washington 7:30 AM. Train 84, which normally runs from Richmond to New York, operates as a shuttle only, running Richmond-Washington. Train 174 runs one hour earlier, departing Washington 8:35 AM in 84's timeslot. One can transfer from 84 to 174 to continue their trip beyond Washington. Train 132 leaves Washington at 9:30 AM, in 174's slot, and runs Washington-New York.

Train 184 departs Washington at 11:30 AM, 25 minutes later than the April 25 timetable. Train 176 leaves Washington 12:30 PM, also 25 minutes later. Train 198 leaves from Washington 25 minutes earlier at 8:35 PM.

Northbound Regional 110 is cancelled.

Southbound, New York-Washington Regionals 133 and 189 are cancelled. Train 187 departs from New York at 8:45 PM, 15 minutes earlier than shown in the system timetable.

Here's a strange one. On Saturday mornings only, a Regional 121 is shown, departing New York 6 AM. This does not replace any Acelas, so it must be an equipment move possibly related to the unbalanced number of Metroliners between New York and Washington on Sundays.

Keystone Service:

Many trains were rescheduled (beyond what is shown in the April 25 timetable) by as much as 10-15 minutes either way.

The biggest change is the cancellation of weekday Train 653. It is replaced by a Train 665 (New York-Harrisburg) which runs about 25 minutes later. 665 takes over the 5:10 PM New York departure slot vacated by cancelled Regional 189.

Amtrak By The Numbers has been updated to reflect all of these changes (as well as those in the April 25th timetable that were not affected by the Acela mess).