Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Boston, MA–
Today is the day, we say finally to high-speed rail… you might ask what that is since we have been dealing with the 25-year-old Acela trains with their Next Gen trains just sitting in a railyard next to 30th Street station in Philadelphia. Well, the wait is over as the first of 28 trains are put into revenue service on August 28th.
For those who have taken the train anywhere in the Northeast Corridor, you have been accustomed to the standard of no more than 150mph, well that all changes with the introduction these Next Gen Acela sets that have been more than 5 years in the waiting and testing que to come online.
Our first impression the trainsets is business and leisure travelers can really finally have that first class experience from D.C to Boston and shave a few minutes of time off their trip with modern accommodations. There are quite a few things that are very good about these trains and very few that are not good.
People have been complaining that the seats do not totally recline and that if you book certain seats, you get just half of a window, not the full one like those who have a full table. It still has to be better than some of the rips in the leather on the 25-year-old train sets. We thought they were a bit tough on the leather, but the size of the seats and the lights at each seat were a huge upgrade from the old.
People seemed excited for the WiFi was also praised for its speed. NextGen trains have larger windows, grab-and-go food options, and power outlets at every seat.
People can also check out the live location tracking regularly shown on screens mounted on the train ceiling, and self-checkout will soon be added to the cafe car.
For now, people are still going to have to get used to the fact that only small stretches of the railroad allow for 160 mph and you might get a train that has door issues as they seemed to have the first couple of days that forced the conductors to manually force the doors to close. These are small issues, but what people will want to see if the major difference in schedules. Bring back the express to Philly and just a couple of other stops and you could see a 30-minute difference in the trip time. Otherwise, 10 to 15 mins won’t make most people make the switch.
Keep an eye for more trains appearing over the next year, until then take the new over the old and experience what the future of Amtrak holds today.
For more information or to book your trip visit Amtrak.com
