I'm confused.
If the above-the-rail profits of Acela are roughly equivalent to the cost of the Acela sets, then how has Acela failed in a business sense? Certainly it hasn't achieved its goal running times, but the possibility of doing that in any short-range time frame is unlikely.
The fact that it's basically paying for itself, exposing more people to train travel (and public transit in general,) and leaving a positive impression is a good enough sign of success for me.
If the above-the-rail profits of Acela are roughly equivalent to the cost of the Acela sets, then how has Acela failed in a business sense? Certainly it hasn't achieved its goal running times, but the possibility of doing that in any short-range time frame is unlikely.
The fact that it's basically paying for itself, exposing more people to train travel (and public transit in general,) and leaving a positive impression is a good enough sign of success for me.