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2025-08-29 Science & Technology

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Debuts Next-Gen Acela Trains with Maiden Voyage to New York City

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Posted by Abu Uluque 2025-08-29 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1774 views ] Top

1 This surprises me in that part of the initiative would have had to occur under Buttigieg. I thought the only trains he was concerned with require a lot of lubrication.

Posted by Super Hose 2025-08-29 06:47|| 2025-08-29 06:47|| Front Page Top

2 A lot of the time it takes to go from DC to NYCity is loading, unloading at stops and acceleration and slowing after and before stops. Also, because of sharing track with local systems, a lot of the route has limited speed.

The existing Acela trains average about 80 mph between DC and NYC for the non stop service. With the new trains, this will likely increase to about 90 or maybe 95 mph. So the non stop service will be about 15-20 minutes faster.

Yes it is an achievement and yes the ride will be comfortable and the scenery viewing nice, but its not a super duper event.

Also the non stop DC to NYC trains carry only about 25% of the total Amtrak NYC to DC service while the trains that make stops along the way carry the other 75%.

Posted by Lord Garth 2025-08-29 09:12|| 2025-08-29 09:12|| Front Page Top

3 AIUI the goal is to speed up downtown to downtown travel (and comfort) to divert traffic from the overloaded 'local' airports - LGA & DCA.

Posted by Glenmore 2025-08-29 10:58|| 2025-08-29 10:58|| Front Page Top

4 Ouch, Super. That's nasty.

But in California, if you want to go from LA to San Francisco on a train, you can only go as far as San Luis Obispo. Then you have to get off the train and onto a bus.

Meanwhile it's been 17 years and untold billions of dollars since Californians approved a bond measure for high speed rail and not a single track has been laid.

And, if you're looking for an adventure, try driving on Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and Sacramento some time. Just be advised you might need a new suspension on your car afterwards and watch out for the jackasses who think that if you're only going 80 mph on the two-lane, potholed road you should get out of their way. Problem is you can't go any faster because of all the traffic ahead of you. But the jackasses will ride your butt anyway. You get a whole long line of cars going down the road like they're one of Pete's trains.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2025-08-29 12:40|| 2025-08-29 12:40|| Front Page Top

5 My dad worked for the local railroad, so I managed to do a lot of travel by train before I turned 18. Enjoyed it, would love to do it again, even if it was EXTREMELY time-consuming and circuituous. A decent train service would be nice, but with current laws and infrastructure, not economically feasible except in high-density areas like the DC-NYC corridor, possibly from NYC to Chicago.

People trying to compare US and European train travel have never actually LOOKED at a map. The distance from Denver to my home town is roughly 1200 miles - about the same distance as from Madrid to Berlin. It's about the same distance from Denver to Los Angeles, or from my home town to Washington, DC. A lot of that is empty space. There is no empty space to speak of in Europe, except in Russia.

Posted by Old Patriot 2025-08-29 17:46|| 2025-08-29 17:46|| Front Page Top

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