While the performance and capacity of these trains are far more important, a few thoughts on the profile differences between the power car and the coaches:
- When this set was originally pitched, the power cars were totally unique. Since then, these power cars have been incorporated into the next gen TGV for SNCF (Avelia Horizon) with 100 sets currently on order. That design has bilevel coaches and so the slab side is better suited to match that profile. Would not be surprised if Alstom settled on a common profile to keep costs down (although Avelia Horizon renderings do show some fairings to match the bilevel height). Unlike the Acela Is, the power cars for these will not be global oddballs - and that’s a good thing.
- The final renderings of the Acela IIs show a blue band continuing from the lower portion of the coaches onto the power cars. That will likely be added later (along with all the other lettering and graphics) and will help to hide the transition.
- Aside from the profile mismatch, these things look way more unified to me than the Acela Is. Those have fairly (for HSR) stubby noses, fiberglass nose sections that don’t quite match the stainless construction, and (by far the worst) two giant humps on top of each coach. These are going to look way sleeker when they are speeding down the NEC.
- The thin red stripe along the whole train set wasn’t shown in any rendering and seems to match the height and location of the reflective striping added on all Amtrak equipment during the past 10-15 years. I didn’t think FRA striping requirements applied to passenger equipment but Amtrak may have its own internal requirements. One thing that really stuck out to me is how RED the underbodies are. That will not stay bright for long...