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

One thing they absolutely ought to do, particularly for the long hauls, is simplify the communication channels and provide a more direct path for customers to reach management. Make it easier for the passenger to get connected with someone that can resolve on board situations through the call center or digital channels and make the customer aware that “if there is a condition on board that doesn’t meet your standards please call 1-800-USARAIL or chat with us on the Amtrak app and we will make every effort to correct the situation.” And then empower the person at the other end of that exchange to quickly relay the report to someone that can get the crew on the phone and correct the situation.

eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 6:27 pm Having C suite types going into the field without a lot of notice tends to keep the D-Suite execs and E-suite directors on their toes, especially if you don't know when or where they'll show up.

Mr. Olesen; C-Suite = Chief Poobah or whatever.
D-Suite, positions titled Director
E-Suite ????

Railjunkie wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 11:38 pm Spotters we used to call them.

Somewhere "along the way", I learned those positions were filled by outside contractors and titled "Loss Prevention Consultant".

Article from NJ.com: https://www.nj.com/news/2024/12/amtraks ... pring.html

Pulling a fair use quote:

“Our NextGen Acela trains are getting closer,” said Jason Abrams, an Amtrak spokesperson who confirmed the spring rollout date.

Spokesman for Amtrak says Amtrak and Alstom have completed qualification testing and are being submitted to the FRA. So it looks like things are on track for the Spring 2025 projected date barring any deviations

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 8:10 am
E-Suite ????

Engineer?



I'll show myself out now.

Instead of requiring oversight managers whole route have them go part way and return on opposite train. CHI, WASH, and some west coast oversights can actually cover 2 trains. Example ride 19 to CLT and return on 20 to WASH.

Extra #855 passing Morris on December 5th
Engines 2115-2142

ChesterValley wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 12:50 pm Article from NJ.com: https://www.nj.com/news/2024/12/amtraks ... pring.html

I swear that was only 2 paragraphs yesterday. I guess they removed the subscriber restriction. Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20241210004 ... pring.html

This article is sloppy anyway. Seems like part of it was prewritten like they have some sort of package they use when they publish new articles on it.

The new trains are capable of traveling at speeds over 180mph.

Operational speed will be 160MPH as stated all over Amtrak media.

In January, one of 28 new Acela train sets was videoed speeding through Princeton Junction in Mercer County on a section

2 minutes of searching shows that testing in this area continued until August/September. This is a nitpick.

An Amtrak Inspector General’s office report in September found two issues it said were likely to delay a 2024 rollout of the new trains.

September 2023, not this year. This is what I mean by "prewritten package". They didn't review the timeline of when this was first written against the new context.

The remaining portions are mostly copied out of Amtrak's own documents published last week.



An Acela II car (engine 2146) was hit by graffiti in Philadelphia
Discussion here: https://railroad.net/post1657198.html

Gilbert B Norman wrote: ↑Mon Dec 09, 2024 8:10 am

eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 6:27 pm Having C suite types going into the field without a lot of notice tends to keep the D-Suite execs and E-suite directors on their toes, especially if you don't know when or where they'll show up.

Mr. Olesen; C-Suite = Chief Poobah or whatever.
D-Suite, positions titled Director
E-Suite ????

That's more or less it. Since some titles are granted on seniority vs. accountability, it's essentially how many rings removed you are away from the CEO level.

C-Suite is those who report directly or are one step removed to the CEO/Chairman role, which is typically an Exec VP or Senior VP title. If you could have a seat along the wall at a BOD meeting, you're probably in the C-Suite.

D-Suite are two levels of reporting removed from the CEO. It could be your vanilla Vice Presidents, Managing Directors, and Directors. You might be invited to present for 20 minutes at a BOD meeting, but not allowed to stay.

E-Suite would be four levels removed from the CEO. That would be Senior Managers, Assistant Directors, Principals, etc. in the various companies I've worked with. You might be putting together those presentations for the BOD meeting, or have dozens to hundreds of people reporting up to you who do the actual running of the company....

The E-Suite are the most influential here, since they have a lot more day to day exposure and knowledge of what is right and wrong. They're far less likely to be making knee jerk reactions than the D-Suite, whose main interest is to be in the C-Suite...

I'm very curious about the speeds around curves for the new train sets. I asked a friend to snag me a timetable that had the new speeds and he told me all the info is now on tablets issued to employees. Oh well, I guess it just increases the value of all the old ones I saved I saved over the years!

Where I've worked, its C-Suite (Chief ___ Officers), E-Suite (Executives -- Senior VPs and VPs), with Directors below VPs (and not their own "suite").

pbj123 wrote: ↑Tue Dec 10, 2024 6:39 pm I'm very curious about the speeds around curves for the new train sets. I asked a friend to snag me a timetable that had the new speeds and he told me all the info is now on tablets issued to employees. Oh well, I guess it just increases the value of all the old ones I saved I saved over the years!

The speeds have not been officially changed for the new train sets. The testing speeds on some of the curves was done at 5-10 mph above the current timetable speeds but nothing has been finalized yet as they are still awaiting approval from the Feds.

8th Notch wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2024 7:12 am
The speeds have not been officially changed for the new train sets. The testing speeds on some of the curves was done at 5-10 mph above the current timetable speeds but nothing has been finalized yet as they are still awaiting approval from the Feds.

Are you saying after all the investment, Amtrak isn’t going to get a time reduction running the route?

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2024 12:48 pm

8th Notch wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2024 7:12 am
The speeds have not been officially changed for the new train sets. The testing speeds on some of the curves was done at 5-10 mph above the current timetable speeds but nothing has been finalized yet as they are still awaiting approval from the Feds.

Are you saying after all the investment, Amtrak isn’t going to get a time reduction running the route?

Better time reductions are made by optimizing the route's layout, but as a popular pop band said, "Everything counts in large amounts."

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... ela-order/

Alstom edges toward completion of Acela order


HORNELL, N.Y. — Alstom has produced 270 units of its Amtrak order for 28 Acela Avelia Liberty trainsets and expects to see the 160-mph trains inaugurated in spring 2025, four years after the railroad had planned to introduce the premium Northeast Corridor service.
...
The 270-unit figure, which comprises both coaches and power cars, represents more than 85% completion of the $2 billion order. Fourteen of the 28 trainsets have been delivered but none is in service, pending commissioning by the Federal Railroad Administration and acceptance by Amtrak. In the meantime, most are filling up storage tracks in Philadelphia and Olean, N.Y. while test runs continue. Victor Ionescu, Alstom’s site managing director for Hornell, told Trains News Wire that Avelia Liberty trainsets have run 90,000 miles in tests on the Northeast Corridor. (Amtrak offered a similar figure at its annual public meeting; see “Amtrak public board meeting addresses equipment timelines,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 4, 2024].

Of the delay, Dani Simons, the firm’s vice president of communications and public affairs-Americas, said, “On the production trains that we have already shipped to Amtrak there are a number of ‘field modifications’ that are on a punch list to finish before final acceptance. Some of these items will be addressed in the actual field. Some of them will be addressed in Hornell. The decisions are made partly based on logistics as well as the nature of the repairs. At this time, we do not anticipate any major changes to the trains.”

The Washington Post previously reported that major modifications to wheelsets and the pantograph-catenary interface were needed. A trainset has operated at 165 mph on FRA’s Transportation Technology Center 13-mile test track at Pueblo, Colo., as well as in testing on the aging infrastructure on the 457-mile-long Northeast Corridor, stretching from Boston to New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.
...

John_Perkowski wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2024 12:48 pm

8th Notch wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2024 7:12 am
The speeds have not been officially changed for the new train sets. The testing speeds on some of the curves was done at 5-10 mph above the current timetable speeds but nothing has been finalized yet as they are still awaiting approval from the Feds.

Are you saying after all the investment, Amtrak isn’t going to get a time reduction running the route?

I've said it before and I will say it again.. It is not how fast you go, it is how you go fast.

At this point the time savings will be from not having rolling stock that is actively falling apart using parts from cannibalized trains