"Acela II" to be capable of 180 mph

jstolberg wrote:I think Florida will tack on 5 trainsets to the Acela II order. Things are looking very favorable right now for Florida to get money for the Orlando-Tampa line. Florida's plans call for electric trainsets designed for 250 passengers and a top speed of 162 mph. Florida would be looking for delivery and testing in about 2015.

It's too soon to anticipate what's going to happen to HSR in Florida. Look at what's happened to the political prospects of the Charlie Crist?

In any case, there would be very little demand for high priced, business oriented service between Orlando and Tampa, unlike the NE Corridor. Add in the costs of a purpose built right-of-way, and HSR is just too expensive to draw any patronage.

The real problem with Florida is that high-ticket-price HSR doesn't appeal to the vast majority of Floridians who've never even been aboard a passenger train.

What exactly is the design flaw that does not allow Acela trains to be coupled together during high-speed operation? That's really interesting; I've always wondered why that's not done just like with ICE trains.

Let's continue this discussion in the High Speed Rail Forum.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Let's continue this discussion in the High Speed Rail Forum.

-otto-

Otto, can you please clarify for all what constitutes HSR for forum purposes? My assumption, high speed dedicated ROW, must not be accurate. Thanks.

It seems we're expanding this thread into a larger discussion outside of Amtrak and comparisons into HSR in general, therefore, I think it can gain greater exposure by being in both forums. It looks like not all HSR will be on its own dedicated ROW as long as we have services like Amtrak's Acela that runs on a conventional right of way mixed with other traffic. I suspect going forward, Amtrak's Acela will be the exception and not the norm in this country.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:It seems we're expanding this thread into a larger discussion outside of Amtrak and comparisons into HSR in general, therefore, I think it can gain greater exposure by being in both forums. It looks like not all HSR will be on its own dedicated ROW as long as we have services like Amtrak's Acela that runs on a conventional right of way mixed with other traffic. I suspect going forward, Amtrak's Acela will be the exception and not the norm in this country.

-otto-

The projects under consideration break down into 2 general categories.

Emerging High Speed Rail is 90-110 mph at grade. Emerging High Speed Rail proposals include the 3,000 mile Midwest Regional Rail System and improvements proposed in upstate New York, Virginia and North Carolina. Equipment is generally diesel powered and frequencies are generally 5-15 trips per day.

High Speed Express Rail is 150+ mph on grade-separated tracks. High Speed Express proposals include Florida, California, Texas, and of course the NEC. Equipment is generally electric powered and frequencies are generally greater than 15 trips per day.

george matthews wrote:

Matt Johnson wrote:I have traveled on the Virgin Pendolino between Carlisle and Glasgow, and on another trip between London and Manchester. I was impressed, and I thought to myself, man this train would perform well on the Northeast Corridor! It's very smooth, and the active tilt works beautifully. The Pendolinos are good for at least 140 mph - Virgin was going to run them at that speed, but planned signaling upgrades were never done on the West Coast Mainline, so they are held to 125.

A lot of (expensive) work has been done on the track.

As Mr Matthews says, investment in track is the key. If you can get your train up to 125mph quickly, you can average over 100mph for the fastest services - as the Pendolinos do on some services on the West Coast line.

I didn't feel like reading 7 pages; has anyone discussed what will happen to the current trainsets when the second generation sets get built? Could they be rebuilt and run on the Keystone? Have they or do they need rebuilds?

Sarge wrote:I didn't feel like reading 7 pages; has anyone discussed what will happen to the current trainsets when the second generation sets get built? Could they be rebuilt and run on the Keystone? Have they or do they need rebuilds?

As I understand it, Amtrak wishes to retire the existing 20 Acela trainsets as new ones arrive. Amtrak doesn't expect to retire the Acela trainsets until they reach their commercial useful age, when the trainsets are 25 to 30 years old.
Amtrak Fleet Strategy
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/BlobServe ... gyPlan.pdf

Thanks. So if Amtrak goes ahead and gets the second generation sets in fairly soon, and certainly a minimum of a five-year lead time will be needed if they were to issue an RFP today, and providing they get funded, it's feasible the Acela's could run on the Keystone or as shorter-distance super-regionals for the remainder of their life.

Sarge wrote:Thanks. So if Amtrak goes ahead and gets the second generation sets in fairly soon, and certainly a minimum of a five-year lead time will be needed if they were to issue an RFP today, and providing they get funded, it's feasible the Acela's could run on the Keystone or as shorter-distance super-regionals for the remainder of their life.

Yes, it's a possibility. But do you really believe Congress will grant Amtrak sufficient funds to build the new replacement HSR trainsets early?

electricron wrote:

Sarge wrote:Thanks. So if Amtrak goes ahead and gets the second generation sets in fairly soon, and certainly a minimum of a five-year lead time will be needed if they were to issue an RFP today, and providing they get funded, it's feasible the Acela's could run on the Keystone or as shorter-distance super-regionals for the remainder of their life.

Yes, it's a possibility. But do you really believe Congress will grant Amtrak sufficient funds to build the new replacement HSR trainsets early?

It depends on who is in control. If it's a Democratic majority, then possibly, but if it's a Republican majority, forget it.

In the past I'd have said no to an early build; today, I'm not so sure. Plus, I don't think it's a red vs. blue issue; at least not predominantly. There are plenty of Amtrak patrons in fly-over territory.

Are we even talking about the Acela II equipment anymore, or have we just degraded into the tired old arguments of funding and politics?

Discuss the equipment. Discuss the technology. Ignore politics.

-otto-

Since the NEC won't have it's speeds upped to 180 mph by 2015, it would only make sense that these trains operate where they can reach their max speed(Florida HSR).