The fastest trains ever to hit the rails in the United States are finally leaving the station — more than four years behind schedule. 

The next generation of Amtrak’s high-speed Acela fleet enters commercial service Thursday between Washington, New York and Boston — promising peak speeds of 160 mph and a smoother trip. 

What You Need To Know

  • The fastest trains ever to hit the rails in the United States are finally leaving the station — more than four years behind schedule

  • The next generation of Amtrak’s high-speed Acela fleet enters commercial service Thursday between Washington, New York and Boston — promising peak speeds of 160 mph and a smoother trip

  • U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy joined other federal and Amtrak officials, plus rail advocates and members of the presss, aboard one of the new trains for an inaugural ride north along Amtrak’s heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor
  • Amtrak is touting a host of new features on the upgraded trains, from new signage to improved Wi-Fi and creature comforts like easily accessible electric outlets, headrests on the seats and an upgraded cafe experience

“We’re going to be able to carry more people on these trains, which hopefully means better pricing. It’s going to mean better revenue, but most importantly, a better experience for the traveling public,” U.S. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy said Wednesday at an event at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station celebrating the launch of the new trains.

(Spectrum News NY1)

Duffy then joined other federal and Amtrak officials aboard one of the new trains for an inaugural ride north along Amtrak’s heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor. Rail travel advocates and members of the press, including Spectrum News, were also onboard.

Amtrak is touting a host of new features on the upgraded trains, from new signage to improved Wi-Fi — albeit, the Wi-Fi lapsed and experienced technical issues on Wednesday’s preview trip. There are also new creature comforts, including easily accessible electric outlets, headrests on the seats and an upgraded cafe experience.

(Spectrum News NY1)

Amtrak is promising a smoother ride, courtesy of new tilting technology aimed at helping the trains navigate the curves along the Northeast Corridor. 

The 160 mph peak speeds are 10 mph faster than their predecessors.

However, trip times are not expected to improve, at least not at first. That means travel between Washington, D.C. and the Big Apple will still take about 3 hours, while a trip between New York and Boston will run about 3.5 hours.

Five new train sets are entering service initially, with all 28 expected to be on the rails by 2027 — all at a total cost of more than $2 billion. The new trains were assembled at the Alstom plant in Hornell, New York.

Years of Delays

The rollout of the NextGen trains is a long time coming. The current fleet, which the new trains will replace, premiered nearly a quarter century ago.

The new trains were supposed to premiere in 2021, but faced extensive delays as Amtrak and Alstom worked to prove the trains met safety standards. 

A 2023 report from Amtrak’s inspector general also identified defects in all the train sets that had, to that point, been assembled. The report detailed windows that shattered “spontaneously,” a water drainage issue that could cause the parts holding the cars together to corrode, and leaks in the hydraulic tiling system.

(Spectrum News NY1)

Andy Byford, who has worked for transit authorities in New York and around the globe, including recently overseeing high-speed rail for Amtrak, told Spectrum News that in his experience, launching a new train is never easy. 

“There’s always unforeseen hurdles that you have to overcome,” he said. 

“But we’ve worked with the [Federal Railroad Administration] to pass all of the tests to prove that these trains are safe to operate, to prove that the new technology works seamlessly and flawlessly and smoothly, and that’s what got us across the line,” he added.

Byford is now serving as a special advisor to the Amtrak Board of Directors, tasked with spearheading the redevelopment of Penn Station in New York City. 

‘A long way to go’

Even with the rollout of the new trains, the United States overall still lags behind other developed nations in passenger rail service and infrastructure. 

Jim Mathews, the president and CEO of the Rail Passengers Association, called this week’s launch “a beginning” but said there is still “a very long way to go.” 

“This is a start, and it’s good. But one of the points I hope we can make today over and over again is that the process that got us to this moment can’t stop,” he said. 

That said, future battles over Amtrak funding still loom. But at least the next generation of high-speed train service is finally on track.