
Amtrak's next-gen Acela train: “Wi-Fi, craft beers and reliable schedules” - Shelnutt2
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amtrak-new-acela-trains-first-look/
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mikebonnell
The improved performance and amenities from better Acela will translate into
more profits for Amtrak to improve the other lines that run. For Amtrak, I can
arrive 5 minutes before it leaves, have plenty of space in my seat, food
that's a lot better then airlines, and walk around when I want to which is so
much better then the airplane experience. I can't wait for the new trains to
come.

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jamesmp98
I've never taken Amtrak, but from what I understand, it's not that great
outside the northeast megalopolis. Every time I've looked at their site, it's
always been only barely cheaper than flying and often has no trains to a
destination I search. Especially if that destination is not a huge city

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smacktoward
Outside the Northeast Corridor, you're absolutely right, it's not great.

Acela runs _inside_ the Northeast Corridor, however, and for that market even
the current version is pretty compelling. I take it periodically to travel
between DC and NYC; it costs approximately the same as flying, but offers wide
seats with built-in power sockets, lets you get up and stretch your legs if
you want to, and doesn't require you to run the ridiculous security gauntlet
that's mandatory at airports. Plus it drops you right in midtown Manhattan, so
if you're there on business getting to where you probably want to go is easier
and cheaper than it would be from an airport.

The main downsides are that it's a little slower than flying (though if you
include time spent dealing with airport security the difference narrows), the
trains are starting to show their age a little, and in NYC they drop you at
Penn Station, which is a structure straight out of Dante's _Inferno_. New,
faster trains would help ameliorate two of these three problems. (I'm not sure
anything could be done to improve Penn Station, except maybe burning it to the
ground and salting the earth it stood on.)

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akhilcacharya
I took the NE Regional last weekend and I was honestly really impressed. The
WiFi was fast enough, seat was comfortable and it was remarkably on time.

I'm planning a trip to NYC in a few weeks and I realized that LGA to midtown
Manhattan costs about $50 via UberX each way the Acela ends up being as
expensive or cheaper while still being faster!

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smacktoward
Yeah, the Northeast Regional is a little slower than Acela, and the train
cabins are a little dowdier, but other than that it's not bad either. And it
can be significantly cheaper than Acela, so if you're not tightly scheduled it
can be very attractive.

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solidblu
As someone who commutes on the shared train lines used for the NYC to DC route
I for-see more delays for my commute to make the reliability numbers go up.
Screw over the many for the benefit of a few... Many being the normal more
commuters out of New York Penn Station.

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ascagnel_
Amtrak is already proceeding on a new tunnel project under the Hudson[0]
independent of the Gateway project, (edit: and has funding independent of the
federal government). The real question is if elected officials can get on the
same page with the interstate Gateway project.

[0]: [https://nec.amtrak.com/project/the-hudson-tunnel-
project/](https://nec.amtrak.com/project/the-hudson-tunnel-project/)

~~~
solidblu
It is still owned by Amtrak, which means that normal commuters will still get
the short end of the stick over Amtrak customers like normal. Any one that
takes NJTransit during rush hour knows just how little Amtrak cares about
commuters. For those who don't. They on a regular basis posted track numbers
for two rush hour trains leaving within 5 mins on the same track pair. This
leaves more than 300 people rushing down the same 3 stairwells.

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MockObject
When I took the Acela a few times this year, I was surprised to see only
Dunkin Donuts coffee served. I would expect Starbucks or better on a train
marketed towards an upscale crowd.

