Acela - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Acela is the name of several railway services of Amtrak circulating in the North-East of the the United States. The term was born from the combination of “acceleration” and “excellence”.

Generally, it indicates only the trains at high speed circulating between Washington and Boston via New York and Philadelphia. These services are properly called Acela Express to distinguish them from the Acela regional trains.

History

Origin of the name

The March 9th, 1999, Amtrak revealed that the name which its trains in the corridor Boston-Washington would carry: Acela (delivery ə' sɛlə ), a Portemanteau word using Excellence and Acceleration . At this time, the momentary service was carried out in the corridor, and its prolongation towards Newport News (Virginia), by several types of trains and at different speeds. Acela was to become the generic term for all these trains by joining a term speed there: Acela Express train to replace to it fast Metroliner , Acela Regional for those at mean velocity or regional and Acela To commutate for the local trains. The January 31st 2000, the first Acela Regional replaced the NortheastDirect on the first line electrified of the corridor. as the lines were electrified, more trains became of Acela and the first service Acela Express began the December 11th 2000. The name Acela Commuter was never introduced and the March 17th 2003, the name Acela was reserved exclusively for the service Express to conform to the acronym which forms it.

Development of the express train

The greatest population density in the North-East of the United States is between Boston and Washington. Two-thirds of the passengers of the train in the United States pass by the stations of New York: PEN Station and Great Exchange Station. The decline of momentary transport by train due to the car and the plane can be reversed only by offering a train at high speed and Amtrak was during years 1990 to renew its fleet with such a train. However, the costs associated with a TGV French or a German ICE, new dedicated electric ways and rolling stock, were too high.

In October 1994, Amtrak opens an invitation to tender for a train which could run on the existing network, with its sometimes pronounced curves, at speeds up to 240 km/h. A Consortium formed of Bomber Transport (75%) and Alstom (25%) was selected in March 1996. The original delivery date was to be at the end of the year in 1999 but various problems delayed it. Inter alia, the oars were 10 too broad cm to incline itself completely what reduced maximum speed envisaged. The service was thus inaugurated the December 11th 2000

In addition to rolling stock, one electrified the lines what made it possible to increase the speed of all the trains. That made it possible the Acela Express to rejoin Boston in New York in three hours and half, a half an hour improvement. New York in Washington takes two hours thirty now. Frequent schedules and the speed of Acela makes it possible Amtrak to pursue the plane, especially since the Attentats of September 11th, 2001. However the price of a ticket between Boston and Washington DC is twice more important than for a voyage in a traditional Amtrak train, and that for a limited time-saver.

Pendular trains

These trains, which circulate on a very sinuous course, are also pendular, which improves comfort of the travellers and authorizes a higher speed in the curves, while maintaining the maintenance costs on an acceptable level. Outside, they have an air of family very marked with TGV. They combine a propulsion of type TGV, provided by Alstom and a system of pendulation developped at the point by Bombardier . The seats of Acela Express are of blue color. The interior is largely white and brilliantly enlightened.

Their speed limit is of 257,5 km/h, which it can however reach only on one short section of 29 km (the railway high speed is usually defined as higher than 200 km/h). The commercial mean velocity of the services is established in practice to approximately 177 km/h. Each oar, of a capacity of 304 seats, is made up of

two motor coaches tricourant (25 Kv 60 Hz, 12,5 Kv 60 Hz, 11 Kv 25 Hz), framing six cars, of which:
one of first class, equipped with tables and video screen to the file of the preceding seat, the meal is been used there for the place,
four of second class (called business class ), equipped with catches 120 V for the laptops; in one of these cars the use of the cellphone is banished,
and a car bar.

Served stations

The trains serve the following stops (foot-note: all the trains do not stop at every station, the local correspondences are indicated between brackets):

South Station, Boston, Massachusetts (suburban trains and red line MBTA)
Back Bay Station, Boston, Massachusetts (suburban trains orange MBTA and line)
Road 128 Station, Dedham, Massachusetts (suburban trains MBTA)
Providence, Rhode Island (suburban trains MBTA)
Kingston, Rhode Island
Westerly, Rhode Island
Mystic, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut (Shore Line East)
Old Saybrook, Connecticut (Shore Line East)
New Haven, Connecticut (Shore Line East and New York MTA Subway-North)
Bridgeport, Connecticut (Shore Line East and New York MTA Subway-North)
Stamford, Connecticut (Shore Line East and New York MTA Subway-North)
New La Rochelle (New York) (New York MTA Subway-North)
PEN Station, New York (New York MTA Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit; NYCT has, C, E, 1,2,3,9 trains)
PEN Station, Newark, New Jersey (suburban trains New Jersey Transit and Métro of Newark)
EWR Airport Rail Station, New Jersey (suburban trains New Jersey Transit)
Metropark, Iselin, New Jersey (suburban trains New Jersey Transit)
Princeton Junction, New Jersey (suburban trains New Jersey Transit and shuttles towards the Université Princeton)
Trenton, New Jersey (suburban trains New Jersey Transit and SEPTA)
30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (suburban trains New Jersey Transit and SEPTA, SEPTA subway Market-Frankford line and trolley bus green line)
Wilmington, Delaware (suburban trains SEPTA)
Aberdeen, Maryland
PEN Station, Baltimore (suburban trains MARC and Maryland Transit Administration light rail and drunk)
BWI Airport Rail Station, Maryland (suburban trains MARC and Maryland Transit Administration light rail)
New Carrollton, Maryland (suburban trains MARC and WMATA subway orange line)
Washington, cd. (Union Station (suburban trains MARC and VRE, WMATA subway red line)

See

Reliability and accidents

In August 2002, shortly after its service entrance, the Acela Express was put out-service when it was found that the fasteners of the shock absorbers of some Bogie S had cracks. The replacement of the faulty fasteners and a program of more frequent inspections allowed the start-up. Since this time, the design of the fasteners and shock absorbers were modified to make them sedentary.

The April 15th 2005, the trains Acela ceased circulating during several months, because of cracks discovered in the discs of the brakes. The trains Metroliner , that the Acela replaces, filled the vacuum. The consortium Bomber-Alstom replaced the discs according to the guarantee and a restricted service took again in July with the oars having been levelling. The September 21st, Amtrak announced the total trade-in of the service.

Some accidents took place since the startup of the Acela but which have nothing to do with the design of the train itself. They are rather problems with the design of the railway lines in the corridor where he passes. The September 28th 2005, Acela Express train between Boston and Washington, cd. was implied in a collision with a level crossing. It struck a car of mark Ford Taurus in Connecticut, one of the only level crossings remaining in the corridor BosWash and one of only a line at high speed in the world. The impact was done when the train ran to 113 km/h and that the car derived under the safety fence. The conducting one and three passengers were killed. The investigation concluded not into the reasons from the accident but the assumption of an mild heart attack from conducting 62 years is raised. The barrier was inspected and one conclua with his correct operation at the time of the accident but the public opinion lined up side of the elimination of the cross-pieces of railroads on this layout,

The January 14th 2007, a teenager Robert Castro de Easton (Massachusetts) got out of the suburban train of MBTA to 13:20 to the station of Mansfield. He wanted to cross the way to go to join his mother on the opposite platform but was grabbed by Acela passing in station with approximately 209 km/h. He died the January 15th at the evening. Six days later, a Acela train moving towards north struck and killed another pedestrian with a level crossing with New Haven with the Connecticut

Derived

The cars of the Acela were used by Bombardier for its prototype JetTrain since the beginning of the Années 2000. One couples a Locomotive to with it with gas turbine what makes it possible to roll on the rails not electrified which cover the majority of contains North-American. This could extend the market derived from the Acela .

See too

External bond

Acela, official site (in English)

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