Amtrak unveiled a new concept for its high-speed Acela Express service that’ll hit the Northeast Corridor by 2021. The new trains will have bigger bathrooms, Wi-Fi, plentiful information screens for route and arrival updates, and “streamlined” overhead luggage racks, Amtrak says. Each leather seat also will come with “integrated in-seat lighting and personal electrical outlets,” and not one but two tray tables, small and large.
The new trains will accommodate 386 passengers, “an increase of nearly 30 percent,” Amtrak says, without sacrificing the spacious two-by-two seating arrangement that’s one hallmark of Acela service. (In first class, seats are in an even better two-by-one arrangement.) The new cabins also make it clear which seats are reserved, which thankfully eliminates the need to talk to other human beings on board. (J/K, but not really.)
The only snag? The first prototype won’t be ready until 2019, “with the first train entering service in 2021,” Amtrak says in a statement. The remaining trains are “expected to be in service by the end of 2022.”
Funding for the upgraded equipment comes from a $2.45 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Transportation. While part of that money will go to these new trains—which will be manufactured by Alstom in upstate New York—Amtrak also is using a portion of the money to undertake “a multifaceted modernization program for the Northeast Corridor,” a spokesman says. “This includes investing in infrastructure needed to improve the on-board and station customer experience that will accommodate the increased high-speed rail service levels. Amtrak will invest in significant station improvements at Washington Union Station, Moynihan Train Hall New York, as well as track capacity and ride quality improvements to the [Northeast Corridor] that will benefit both Acela Express riders and other Amtrak and commuter passengers.” And that all sounds good to us—even if we've gotta wait until 2021.
