Inside Amtrak Acela at 150mph

Riding northbound on Acela thru southern Massachusetts in the 150mph zone.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Acela
• inside
• ride
• Massachusetts
• 150mph

[AmericanRaven19]

lol with amtrak's "TRACK record" (get it :p ) theres no way i would be caught on one of these trains lol :p they can't even get 55-80m.p.h. right what makes them think they can master 150?

[cttrainguy]

Maybe because outside of the NEC Amtrak depends on the freight railroads for access and track maintenance. ON the NEC Amtrak owns and operates the tracks so they are in full control. It is still the safest means of transport in the US.

[cttrainguy]

Now we've got $1.2 billion to play with for Amtrak - hopefully more speed and more lines are on the way. Maybe now the states can implement some of their high speed plans.

[mard420]

this is just like driving in the car lol, but the girl friend isn't screaming

[sjoldtimer]

@AmericanRaven19 They have running the Acela for about 11 years now, so I would suggest you don't know what you are talking about. My only complaint is that there is far too little 150 mph running on the corridor, plus high speed corridors need to be built elsewhere.

[DDunker51]

It makes me very happy to read these idiotic comments about how someone would never ride on Amtrak. That delights me no end. I would hate to be sitting on a train and have to listen to an idiot nearby, prattling on about how he doesn't like trains. Stay off the train if you don't like it. Makes for a much more peaceful ride for me!

[srfurley]

@crazyshedlife In some ways we have a similar situation to that in the US, with just a short section of high speed, by modern standards, line. The big difference is that we have much more 'highish' speed line, between 100 and 125 MPH than the US does. The only place I've seen the Acela running is between Newark and Trenton, NJ. Much, but not all of the track on this section is modern, but there was that problem with concrete ties (sleepers) which were breaking up about three years ago.

[srfurley]

@onechester

I've never been on the Acela, but I have had one trip on the Eurostar. This was not long after it opened, and before there was any high speed line in the UK. Soon after exiting on he French side we got onto the LGV and you could feel yourself being pressed back into the seat as the train fan up to the full 300 km/h, about 186 MPH. However, once up to speed it didn't really feel any different to the 125 MPH trains which I'm used to

[phantomlord54]

Where exactly is the track old? Large portions of the Corridor have been replaced with the welded rail and concrete ties..

[sideslide23]

Caltrain is one of the best rail system because they have there own right away, and they have the baby bullet express whare the train doesn't make lots of stop at the station so it reduce the travel time from San Jose to San Fransisco

[sideslide23]

just need better track replacement, straiter wide turn tracks, new power transformer and a power source upgrade and then it could be possible to catch up with the shinkansen. rightnow the track is over 100 years old and they slow down to 80 MPG or they'll fly off the track, and the older transformer isn't good for this train.

[TheJohancha86]

acela needs a serious workout lesson from the japanese. shinkansen 500 series hits 200mph, cruises at 186mph.

looks outdated.