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Message: [QUOTE="Exit 4, post: 3852179, member: 2268"] Acela is great....often sold out....very popular for people in NYC area to get around the corridor. There are only two types of people on Acela; 90% business folk and 10% college/trust fund kids moving about. The amazing thing is that the Acela service with its high costs actually makes $ for Amtrak. Imagine that, a government run transportation service that delivers positive cash flow and that people like rather than resent. New Acela trains are set to be delivered in the coming years replacing the current fleet. The problem with Acela is not just the density along the lines reducing max speed, its the fact that its a shared line - shared with regular Amtrak and every local metro commuter rail service in the respective cities it passes through. The sharing means the tracks are crowded and thus Acela must navigate with caution. The existing corridor, particularly from NYC to DC could be reworked. The challenge would be for society to go w/o rail for like 3-4 years while the system is rebuilt. The NYC to Boston connection is challenged by hills, rivers, marshes, deltas, beaches, cute towns, etc etc. Reworking the line through CT at the moment seems politically impossible. The inland route means miles after miles after miles of arguments about ruining towns via a bisecting rail line. The shore route means environmental challenges up the wahzoo, and it means expensive upgrades that wont achieve meaningful time improvement. The cost to upgrade the New England track is dramatically higher than the NYC-DC stretch. Which Gov and Sen is going to be the face of literally railroading their way through CT? No one. But in the mean time the drawings and press releases are fun. Look for the NYC-DC line to eventually get that dramatic upgrade. That is possible. [/QUOTE]

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