Acela II (Alstom Avelia Liberty): Design, Production, Delivery, Acceptance

New press release with first photos of interior states these wont be ready until next year.

"....and smoother service on the Northeast Corridor and provide this country with the type of modern train travel we deserve when these trains are ready for service next year.”"

https://media.amtrak.com/2022/03/amtrak ... trainsets/

Over the last couple years, Transport for London has been posting regular updates on its Crossrail project. Video of testing, comments by those involved at multiple levels, photos, etc. Even going over what problems they've encountered, and what they are doing about them. Probably the best updates I've heard on any rail project. Plus they get a lot of feedback. Amtrak could learn from their example.

RandallW wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:46 pm

photobug56 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 1:07 am Any idea as to why there are there, and what condition they are in (like seating installed or not)? And the 4th car in the closer set - it has fewer windows. Cafe car? The two trains appear to have different configurations. Though that may be from having ends switched.

One of those trains has 1st class to the south, and one has it to the north. I suspect they'll ensure they all have 1st class facing to the south before they start operations (assuming they run these like the Acela Is).

I don't think they'll be able to do that since anything going into Sunnyside gets turned just by the nature of the yard itself.

Trust me if they need the trains to face a certain way, the trains will be looped accordingly…

MattW wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 7:40 am I don't think they'll be able to do that since anything going into Sunnyside gets turned just by the nature of the yard itself.

Acelas are push-pull operation. It doesn't get turned around. It wastes time by getting wye'ed at QN/F Tower in DC, ZOO interlock in Philly, COVE/TOWER 1 in Boston, or routed around in Sunnyside.

First class is suppose to be on the west end of the train departing Boston, they do get looped from time to time if they come in the wrong way or if mechanical failure on one end requires them to be looped m.

Other than the boarding marks on the platform does it matter which end First Class is on?

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No, but that alone is a good enough reason honestly: consistency of service. Especially for your first class characters, if they know where to go every single time, it helps the boarding process and makes them happier.

Need some clarification. Seem to remember that some agencies used to reverse the direction of travel for its trains to even out wear and tear. Old wives' tale or not?

west point wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:02 pm Need some clarification. Seem to remember that some agencies used to reverse the direction of travel for its trains to even out wear and tear. Old wives' tale or not?

This practice is done but on the Washington to NYC to Boston route, there are sufficient curves in both directions to not need this practice for equipment serving that market.

Conversely, the Eurotunnel Shuttle stations are built so the trains loops clockwise in England and counter-clockwise in France to keep wear and tear even. (They loop, not because the trains need it, but to avoid having boarding and departing motor vehicle routes in the station from crossing each other while always having the transported vehicles facing forward on the train.)

Amtrak now allows passengers to pick their 1st Class Acela seats from a diagram on the website that also shows which way the seats (some of them can't be reversed) will face. But it also warns that a last moment emergency might cause the train to be rearranged or reversed.
TAN: The United States Army Transportaion Corps railroad at Fort Eustis, Virginia reverses its captive cars every 3 months to even the flange wear. A white mark is painted on one side of each car and the rule book specifies which way the mark is to face in alternate quarters of the year.

Railwayage reports that debut has been delayed to fall 2023

RandallW wrote: ↑Mon Apr 04, 2022 4:42 am

west point wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:02 pm Need some clarification. Seem to remember that some agencies used to reverse the direction of travel for its trains to even out wear and tear. Old wives' tale or not?

This practice is done but on the Washington to NYC to Boston route, there are sufficient curves in both directions to not need this practice for equipment serving that market.

Conversely, the Eurotunnel Shuttle stations are built so the trains loops clockwise in England and counter-clockwise in France to keep wear and tear even. (They loop, not because the trains need it, but to avoid having boarding and departing motor vehicle routes in the station from crossing each other while always having the transported vehicles facing forward on the train.)

for the euro shuttles , driving on different sides of the road in the two countries may also have something to do with it .

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 8:41 am

MattW wrote: ↑Sun Apr 03, 2022 7:40 am I don't think they'll be able to do that since anything going into Sunnyside gets turned just by the nature of the yard itself.

Acelas are push-pull operation. It doesn't get turned around. It wastes time by getting wye'ed at QN/F Tower in DC, ZOO interlock in Philly, COVE/TOWER 1 in Boston, or routed around in Sunnyside.

If they turn on the platform in NYP, sure, but if they go into Sunnyside, the last time I looked, the tracks intrinsically turned the train.

MattW wrote: ↑Tue Apr 05, 2022 7:49 am If they turn on the platform in NYP, sure, but if they go into Sunnyside, the last time I looked, the tracks intrinsically turned the train.

Granted, if they did, they'd go into Sunnyside... which they do.

And they have two ways of doing it, the "front door" via Track 2 from NYP, or the "back door" loop via Track 1. Reconfirmed that through Amtrak's publications and OpenStreetMap.

This now gets into operations a bit more at Sunnyside -- do they really loop the Acela around or do they pull it up through Track 2's access. I doubt they loop.