Go inside Amtrak’s new high-speed train
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2022
- Come fall of 2023, there will be a new fast train between Washington, D.C. and Boston. Amtrak’s new Acela fleet is replacing trains more than 20 years old. See how the new trains go from aluminum car shells to ready for passengers. Read more: wapo.st/3LCJVws. Subscribe to The Washington Post on UA-cam: wapo.st/2QOdcqK
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Wow! A 21st century train on 19th century rails.
American durability.
trains can go between 80 and 125 mph on most of the tracks which would be perfectly passable if the tickets were cheaper
@@bugno9969 The problem is that the current demand for the Acela and the Northeast Regional high speed trains vastly outpaces supply. Amtrak needs money to upgrade the speed and capacity on the Northeast Corridor and other profitable short-haul intercity routes in order to offer lower prices. The way Amtrak is funded by the Government forces Amtrak to charge market pricing for all its routes. Congress is forcing Amtrak to subsidize the massive losses on the Congress-mandated long-distance trains with the very profitable high-speed and intercity services.
Since Congress is intent on keeping the money-losing long-distance routes, and since we actually want to have those trains as a country (more rail is better overall), the only way to break the impasse is to fund capital improvements for Amtrak on the intercity lines and on the high speed Northeast Corridor.
Yea, that’ll work!NOT!
@@marvinmartin4692 Lol, it already is working and they just got $40+ billion to upgrade more sections to 160mph.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
This is great, now we need to get high speed rail throughout the country, not just the Northeast corridor. California is a prime place for HSR.
Why not we're paying for this money pit. Ridership and revenues would double with just adding a second train to these high revenue routes. Instead of a corridor that bankrupted the Pennsylvania RR and New Haven RR on short haul passengers and their revenues.
the real issue stopping this is that almost all the railroads in our country are owned by freight railroads, and they wont give them to amtrak. most amtrak lines ride on these freight owned tracks, and have to stop any time a very long freight train wants to pass making them unreliable.
The northeast is way too curvy to really be high speed, really can’t fix it. Ne corridor isn’t straight like many other hs risl
@@aviateedits There are enough lines now for sale, that Amtrak could buy them. The line from Cincinnati Atlanta the former L&N is for sale right now! Plus many more! Lines should be added like roads. They buy the property for 20 years! Bu then the owners have moved and sold or died. Then the DOT moves in and does the road project. Plus abandoned lines could be rebuilt. Little at a time. The Northeast Corridor is such a screw up. They don't even take the populated the way between Boston and New Haven with all the major cities , Worcestor, Springfield and Hartford they take the Shoreline with just Providence! It's just what Trump airlines wanted a stupid screwed up operation!
@@MrCodykuczenski No you can solve the Tilt issue since Acela is too heavy , too wide to Tilt. And run trains via the Inland Route to Boston! Not just the Shoreline and put on connections! Amtrak abandoned the direct route between Baltimore and Harrisburg! No service between Providence and Worcester. No direct service to Long Island the reason the Empire tunnels were built! Of course the past few years Trump Airlines has been in charge.
At least it’s a start , onwards and upwards AMTRAK
Hopefully their next move is to start improving rail infrastructure. Better bridges, new track layouts, faster corridors, and higher speed limits.
These comments are passing the vibe check. I thought I'd see a lot more opposition than I have been. We need to fund Amtrak and nationalize the rail system.
The UK High Speed 2 (London to Manchester) will be 360 km/h (225 mph) by 2030. But it's good to see the USA is finally entering the competition.
A train can only be called a fast train if the rails can support an average speed of at least 200 km/hour or 125 miles/hour. like a freeway, it doesn't matter what type of car it is if the road is designed to be driven at an average speed of at least 100km/h or 62 miles/h. can only be called a freeway
Yes! This is what we need in this country! Build them all over the US! This will help with climate change and people who don’t want to fly.
Trains are also safer than cars, probably not as safe as planes but still better.
@@boogiehasfun Trains are overall safer than cars and slightly less safe than planes. But this also depends on the service. The Shinkansen is a lot safer than flying, and by a very large margin! There's no reason why we couldn't increase the safety standards for HSR in the US to the point where it is safer than flying.
Or who were banned bc they violently resisted the mask policy
Won't work since the railroad infrastructure is horrible in the US. The train would crash before any speed is achieved. Even the current Northeast Corridor is barely passable and they say they will upgrade it throughout the years. You would have to make new tracks for the high speed trains across the country and they won't do that.
@@andylui3333 There are spots, but not enough of them, and they would get stuck behind slow freights on most. They do best on dedicated tracks with minimal curves.
Now Amtrak actually needs to make the tracks high-speed capable, with an average speed of 123km/h the Acela express wouldn't be called a highspeed line anywhere else in the world.
lol in china train 220kmh average
In the video they literally said that they were doing that
@@jackmiller7324 Indeed, regional intercity (IC) trains in Germany regularly go 220km/h, not talking about the ICE that can get up to 300kh/h.
Why do people always base these things on AVERAGE speed over OPERATING speed?!
@@amtrak1214 because operating speed is meaningless when it comes to trip times, and that's what matters to passengers. Passengers obviously want to get to their destination as quickly as possible.
Now just needs new rails
To say the least!
TGV can run fast Only on LGV Line !
The overall train's design is so aesthetically pleasing
thats because its European...
@@BuwchBachCreative Actually true.
IMO it’s kind of outdated to me compare to East Asia like China and Japan
HSR needs to include the Midwest with Chicago being the major hub. Imagine HSR branching out to St. Louis, KC, Des Moines, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Detroit, GR, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Cincinnati? Totally feasible
An international rail route between Detroit and Quebec City would also be a good move.
The Midwest is the worst possible place to build hsr. Too spread out and only two significant cities
@@Adumzzinthehouse The Midwest was a major hub of rail transit dating back to the 1800s. The Midwest may not be as compact as the Northeast, but it's really not correct to say that rail wouldn't work here.
@@sinisterdesign I didn't say it wouldn't work there, I just said it's the least viable place to start with. It would be better to start with the east coast (High density cities+ high economy) and the west coast (Moderate density+ really high economy).
@@Adumzzinthehouse those areas have far more expensive land acquisition costs and could require more construction on more frequent placement of grade-separated crossings depending on what speed you are aiming for
Great to see this upgrade having sampled the Shinkansen in Japan in 2019 and the current Acela just last month. I love cars and don't mind air travel but the US is tailor made for high-speed rail with its long stretches of contiguous land and it's more climate-friendly and less hassle than a plane flight so I hope HSR spreads further here. If only we'd get away from our fixation on highways and planes and appreciate the virtues of a more multi-modal transport system.
Towns and cities in the interior of the US were literally put where they are because of their location on train lines! The people that say trains can’t work in the US forget that it was literally built for them!
@@brandonbollwark5970 i'd say yes but.
for long distance sure. but HSR has a different economic, too far it's just mean lower communter numbers, too near means it can't get up to speed faster between station before stopping. with how america's built after the 60s... the economic of HSR just doesn't quite make as much sense outside of the original 13 or the silicon coast, unless you can densified the cities targeted in the middle america and build related last-mile infrastructure (unless robo-taxi is gonna takeoff anytime soon)
@@PrograError bulldoze the fuckery and rebuild in a good way
Shinkansen bullet train 🚆 ❤️ my favourite 😍
We will have one in our country work will complete in 2026 🥺
@@PrograError Doesn't matter how long, as long as the places away from each other are less than 600 miles apart, thats the whole reason why HSR exist in the first place
As a high speed rail fan I love the new generation Acela it's so amazing and definitely compares to other nations trains
Problem is infrastructure, not the train itself. You can have a train with a top speed of 350km/h, but if it operates in 100km/h tracks, the gain is non-existant.
@@CityWhisperer and 10 mph zones cause of outdated bridges, but i think that'll get upgraded soon. i hope
@@CityWhisperer tho there's also the benefit of faster ramp up and ramp down timings hence able to keep to a higher speed for much longer
It's a french train lol
@@flipmo9579 so?
Looks amazing!! 🇫🇷 🇺🇸, 350km/h capable train on a small stretch of 260km/h track should only be the start, America needs radical investment in its rail infrastructure desperately
Nah
Although my background and career has been in aviation. I am still pro-train. I will always have a soft spot for trains since it’s what I grew up riding around the US on. So I am definitely cheering all the new innovations on. So exciting!
i thought i was the only one, good to know that my friend
1:31 shows the Acela business class car I was onboard almost a year ago (3406).
1:53 power car 2127 looking close to completion in the background
2:05 set 19 (the Acela I was on almost a year ago) being shown in the spotlight
>Acela fan 2008
I kneel
Now fix the tracks!
It's a stupid Idea. I don't know why people are obsessed with sandwiching modes of transport together. It's better to build mostly elevated nationally high speed maglev lines than to fix existing tracks that if Amtrak does not own it's own tracks would have to operate along side freight trains which also has the right away.
@@kvm1992 maglev is the worst idea solely on grounds of cost. It’s cheaper to run hsr and it would be on separate track to freight rail…
@@kvm1992 😆😅🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂
@@dantem4119 😆😅😅😆🤣🤣😆😅🤣😂😂😂
Easier to do in the NEC, where Amtrak owns the track, doing it outside the Northeast, where freight rail companies own the track infrastructure, is a whole other matter altogether.
Automobile industry will lobby like they always have to stop other modes of transportation.
This is a great presentation!!! When will these new type trains throughout the rest of the country? Especially states like Ohio, Georgia, Michigan and many other states as well!!! We rail enthusiasts are starved for more excellent passenger trains and increased services!!! 😁👍🏽👏🏾🙏🏽
Basically, whenever we fork out the money to improve the speed on the intercity lines outside of the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak already has/is building higher speed track in a bunch of places, but that is expensive and no one wants to pay for it.
We could have trains like the Acela running on intercity routes all around the country. All it takes is some money to build the track or upgrade existing track!
Amtrak has done nothing but loose money it's entire existence. Why should taxpayers keep subsidizing this boondoggle? This is from a life long train guy.
@@TohaBgood2 if the passenger rail industry received similar funding as the highway system that would be a very helpful boost to making huge improvements, investments and moving forward to making passenger trains a viable means of train the US!
The US will have to nationalize our rail network to even consider the idea. As much as it would benefit us both socially and financially, that isn't going to happen any time soon.
@@travisbeagle5691 Frankly, this is probably the longterm outcome we should pursue as voters. The freight railroads were subsidized with insane amounts of land and cash to build our national rail network in exchange for guaranteeing passenger service. It was wrong to let them shed those covenants when they all went bankrupt in the 60s and 70s.
Unfortunately, privatization was the flavor of the week than, and this really was a natural, if unfortunate, political outcome.
But I disagree that Amtrak should just wait for the return of Conrail! Amtrak has already managed to upgrade a few corridors to higher speeds. This clearly is possible without nationalization, if it will actually ever become politically tenable. I think that we still need to fully fund Amtrak's efforts to reclaim the passenger rail allotments that are supposed to be guaranteed to it by law. We should also support and fund Amtrak's efforts to reestablish functional and fast intercity rail service on the corridors that are already viable today with minimal upgrades.
The UK does fine with a quasi HSR national rail network even though the speeds are capped at 90, 110, and 125mph on all routes but one. There's no reason why we shouldn't start building towards the same outcome. And if you do believe that nationalization will come at some point then that's only more of a reason to start upgrading the network today rather than waiting!
Finally the USA can enjoy the luxury of train travel the Euopean stylish way.
Um, the Acela has been in service over 20 years now. This is just the latest upgrade.
@@dynasty0019 please tell me you’re joking they know this it’s just our upcoming train-set
More the Japanese way since the Japanese invented it, not Europeans.
@@ummmbye1228 I dont think they know, he said "Finally" therefore he thinks it wasnt up until NOW they can get luxury trains, while trains like the Acela and Florida brightline have been very good and in operation for years
Why are Europeans such condescending assholes towards anything American?
3:00 Nice gap filler on the doors. However that always slows down the opening process as well because it must extend before the door can open. Maybe not such a problem for high speed trains but for commuter trains stopping a lot it can be a cause of delay.
well... this is pretty much for HSR for now anyway...
America doesn't have much high level platforms... most are at-grade platform outside of the corridor.
@@PrograError Depends where. I guess there are more in the east. Aren't most/all acela stations high platform?
HSR needs its own track to achieve full capacity.
Not at all. HSR needs separation from much slower services like freight and slow-moving passenger trains. But HSR is entirely compatible with fast intercity and even some express commuter rail. In fact, practically all HSR shares track with slower services close to stations, and most HSR lines share track with intercity trains elsewhere on their routes.
This myth has been propagated by the anti-rail community to deter investment in HSR. HSR can in fact cohabitate with other rail services, and usually is implemented in phases where it shares track with other services for decades until the entire system is built out. This meme exists purely to deter investment in fast rail! The argument is that "it is so expensive and such a hassle to built this completely isolated and extremely expensive service that it's not worth it to even try." Practice shows that this is entirely false.
Cool train but the track infrastructure itself needs upgrading. Most of the journey between Washington and Boston it will barely get over 80mph
The United States still have a long way to go when it comes to trains
A long way to go compared to what? And if you're going to compare it to Europe, you're very off base. The geography, demand, and population distribution in the US is far, far different than European countries.
*Passenger trains
We have the best freight rail system
@@Adumzzinthehouse the US is built on a commodity over people system, and no it only has the LARGEST freight rail system, but no where near the best lmao
@@yeoldeseawitch Name one country with a better freight rail system
@@yeoldeseawitch Nope, they have the best and biggest freight rail system anywhere in the world and the most lucrative, there's a reason why there are a bunch of freight companies operate there, sorry to burst your bubble
I hope we get high speed rail connecting the whole country together. Trains are so cool but they’ve never been accessible to me since I lived in small towns my whole life but now I live in Texas and I would give anything to not have to drive in Texas lol I have never witnessed such anger on the roads as I do now
Prior to Covid I had the chance to ride the Brightline down to Miami from West Palm. Really nice experience.
I hope someone wakes up and sees the potential of a dedicated hsl on this corridor
But this already _is_ a high speed line! 125+mph on upgraded lines is considered HSR by the international standard!
Almost the entire corridor is at or above 125mph already. There are a few sharp turns and the trains slow down in urban areas close to stations. But that is perfectly normal. That’s what all HSR systems do!
Sure, it would be great to have a parallel dedicated 220-250mph line just for the Acela. But that is both insanely expensive and extremely complicated to legally build in such a densely-populated region.
Wouldn’t it make infinitely more sense to just continue upgrading all of the NEC to 160mph like Amtrak has already started doing, and for a fraction of the cost?
We literally have real HSR in the bag on US soil (!) if we just continue the upgrades on the existing line. Why would we switch to a pie-in-the-sky line that is probably never getting funded by the Republicans in the next century? I just don’t see the point.
@@TohaBgood2 125mph isn't Highspeed. It's "higher" speed. 250km/h+ is what I'd considered highspeed (~140)
And the issue is that it's not a segregated highspeed line, with commuter trains sharing the road.
@@truedarklander By the international standard, HSR is either 150+mph sustained on new track or 125+mph sustained on upgraded legacy track.
The NEC is a 125+mph legacy corridor, with some sections at 135mph, 140mph, 150mph, and with the new Acela trains two 160mph sections.
If you don’t consider the Acela HSR then most of the HSR lines in Europe and Asia also aren’t HSR. You’re underestimating how much of the HSR lines are on legacy track or top out at 125mph. The Acela actually reaches 150mph (160mph with the new trains).
@@TohaBgood2 No, the Acela is a HST service, it just doesn't run on an HSL. An HSL allows for top speed on all the line and it segregates traffic. Don't misunderstand, the Acela Express is High Speed Rail, just that it runs on a "normal" rail line.
@@TohaBgood2 yes but no... many places are already targeting at least 250 or 350 mph on their corridors
125mph would be considered slow even in UK who is literally constrained by their infrastructure and is currently building a dedicated corridor up to their midlands from london which has a targeted speed 250mph.
Love the new train design, truly a beauty!
i mean they're not the fastest in the Western hemisphere. Spain's S-102s can go at 220mph
It doesn't matter how fast the train CAN go, as the tracks limit the speed to an average of 68 mph even for the Acela, NY to DC, so it's really about 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The future of railroading is bright😊
This isn’t the future
Not under Steve Shut down Gardener.
Had a mini heart attack when I read your name
@@ummmbye1228 yeah. Still I'm optimistic that the US will jump on board, just a couple decades late.
Love the paint job on the carriages it's so very similar to our British rail colours of the 1970/80 s
Now can you give this kind of upgrade to the whole amfleet?
Wonderful! 👍about time! I'm happy to see a change here in USA! Thank you!
The fastest train in the western hemisphere if you ignore literally all of Europe.
You only have to exclude 1/3 of France and most of Spain. Most of UK lies in the Western Hemisphere but that part maxes out at 125mph. Or reset the Western Hemisphere to 20°W - 160°E (Wikipedia).
The vast, vast majority of European countries aren’t even part of the Western Hemisphere. It’s mostly North America and South America
… and the U.S. is the only country in the Americas that has high-speed trains, let alone a high-speed rail line. More lines are under construction or planned.
And Japan and China and….
@@VieleGuteFahrer Well, this is embarrassing...
I spent my whole life thinking America and Europe were the Western Hemisphere and Asia and Russia were the Eastern Hemisphere.
Ummmm, Europe isn't part of the Western Hemisphere.
Plus at 160mph, the new Acela will actually be faster than the vast majority of the High Speed Rail in Europe. For example, in Germany only three lines would be faster and the vast majority would be slower than the Acela. All the lines in the UK are slower too, except a short Eurostar stub. The vast majority of the Shinkansen lines go about 160mph in operation even if the trains themselves can go faster. The new Avelia Acela trains can also technically go 220mph (186mph in tilting mode), but will only do 160mph in operations. This is completely normal and perfectly respectable for HSR.
I know that it's popular to crap on everything related to the US these days, "America Bad" and all that. But the Acela is objectively a fast train. Not the fastest in the world, and not even exceptionally fast. But it's a solid contender in the world of HSR. More upgrades to the NEC will only improve the situation. We just need to fund those improvements and we can have a nice HSR line in the US.
Upgrade the tracks
They will eventually those trains speeds can't handle the tracks that are there already.
The amount of traffic and highway accidents we could save if we had more of these trains running in Long Island NY then going to New Jersey. We need more trains.
the Long Island Railroad is actually the highest ridership commuter rail in America.
@@romanrat5613it is, but there's simply so many people there that even more is needed
Great to notice that Amtrak is arriving in the 21st century!
Let’s get these new trains on the flat and straight Midwest routes where they can actually go their top speed for most of the trip!
This will only happen if they make dedicated tracks ONLY for high speed rail, not this stupid mix of Amtrak and mostly freight with poorly maintained tracks that are to freight train quality. You don't need straight, level and smooth tracks for freight, it never complains. They did this in Germany, France and Japan; dedicated high speed tracks, with local 'slow' speed tracks that can go as high as 220km/h, we can't even do that on our current high speed tracks.. on their network.
"famed for going fast" is a wonderful choice of words great job
It amazes me how news stations some how either mess up the quality of a video not filmed by them. or somehow loose like half of the frames the video orginally has lmao
I know, that video of the trains was maybe 10fps.. Where did they get that footage, and no one noticed during editing that it was way off?
@@marcusdamberger lol yea and i remember watching the orginal video of the acela like 2 months ago or somewhere round that time and it was a high quality video lmao
@@marcusdamberger They could've AI upscale it to 24 at least. That was really noticeable.
3:37 ... a train with at-grade crossings cannot be high-speed... but I'm glad the brightline exists regardless
it's more higher speed ( under 125 mph but faster than 90) tho I hope they are planning to remove those crossings one day...
@@PrograError probably... unfortunately American approach to mass transit is like a restaurant putting a burger on the menu, but only serving the bun and lettuce, and explaining that "once enough people come buy the bun and lettuce, they'll be able to afford the beef" ... but ain't no one gonna come buy half a sandwich
@@IanZainea1990 Rome wasn't built in a day. Likewise, HSR in Europe wasn't built in a day, but through a series of speed improvements over the course of decades.
@@taoliu3949 Difference is, places like Germany, France, and Japan, had a plan and followed though and funded it properly. And did it within 20 years. Not this peace meal approach with varying levels of what each service thinks "high speed" rail is. Brightline running between 90-110mph, while California High-Speed Rail will run up to 220mph. It would be a dream to have something approaching what Europe and Japan has built, heck even China. Why can't we be as aggressive as China is with high speed rail? They have a big country with a lot of complicated geography like we do, yet they are making it work and building even more.
There is no apatite or will to get high speed rail to the U.S. We should have followed what Europe was doing within 10 years of them starting up, we would have been finished by now 20+ years after they finished, but at least we would have something in place by now.. The U.S. never properly invests in infrastructure, we are so far behind on just maintaining what he got, most bridges are grade C or D or worse. 60 Minutes did a piece on this a few years back, I'm sure nothing has changed since it aired.
@@marcusdamberger Uh, it was ALL piecemeal. Germany upgraded each line one by one until it was no longer feasible to keep increasing speeds so they started building dedicated lines. Even Japan did the same thing, their Tokaido line had reached its capacity despite infrastructure upgrades so they had to build the Shinkansen. Not to mention, all of these nations had existing rail network that supplements their own HSR network, while regional/local rail in most of America is pretty much nonexistent, but you want to go from nothing to fastest trains ever and think it's going to succeed right off the bat?
Brightline is only 90-110mph on the coast, once it turns west towards Orlando it's slated to go 125mph which is considered the low bar for HSR. This is no different then the ICE which travels at slower speeds in more urban areas. Brightline has gone from paper to shovel in a VERY quick amount of time, the original project was announced in 2012 and they've already started preliminary service.
US infrastructure sucks for a variety of reasons, most of which has to do with how funding is structured (long story short the funding structure is unsustainable) and how urban planning is done. Until this is fixed, it's going to be extremely difficult for the US to invest significant amounts into its passenger rail system, so you're basically stuck with local efforts in each state progressively improving their rail services. You're looking for a silver bullet that doesn't exist, it's a marathon that will be long and difficult for the US to restore its rail network to Europe/Asia levels.
Trains are probably my only way of dodging getting on a plane at this point. I just have a massive phobia of planes and I don’t want to go through all of that mess when I go to visit my sister in Washington.
This a french TGV , which will come here later her in 2024 I think. Alstom make good stuffs.
Wow - the interior looks amazing!
I can't wait to ride these. I hope that it will help me not feel motion sick on the train compared to the current Acela cars.
wow great, the US is catching up with Asia. It is nice to see, hopeful for more HSR trains in USA
LOL Large parts of Asia are still backward. Its a disgrace being compared to Asia.
Oil companies: No
Heigh speed is quiet funny given how little it can go fast on this corridor... there is a true need of upgrade ...
I took the Acela from Boston to NYC and it was great. First Class 👍
I love the Brightline! So awesome to ride. I’ve ridden 1st class Acela from Philly to Baltimore. It was okay, but nothing like the Brightline, and the tickets about 20X the cost higher than the Brightline’s 1st class.
It's basically how every average train ride in Europe is.
@@TheKartoffel101 European trains are much better in terms of schedules and moderness - but not comfort. Amtrak shines in that segment.
@@marco23p it's the same train.
@@marco23p I have to agree on that.
It’s insane that we’re the wealthiest country on earth and don’t have bullet trains
Amen
Blame Congress for refusing to have a federally-operated rail network like other nations because "tHaT wOuLd Be CoMmUnIsT".
While not as flashy as Musk's keynotes, this has such a big impact on emissions and for less money investment. But because of the US' neglect of rail it will be a long track to getting real measurable impacts.
The big difference: it actually exists. As opposed to Tesla FSD which is still in beta.
Nice! Will have to come to the States to ride it.
This is great. Now when can I see one going from Philly to PIttsburg? The car drive is crazy.
Never
Traveled the Eurostar, ICE and Thalys this past Summer. The new Acela looks to be up to that standard, if not the speeds of the former.
I just wish commuter rail equipment (ahem! NJ Transit) were as accommodating (and operated as fast) as Belgian rail.
Maryland commuter rail is pretty fast
Well Thalys operates TGV's that are 4 generations behind this one so let's hope that the acela is up to standard
Yes. Need alternates to the hassle of flying. Airports are a mess.
Need much quicker trains to destinations.
This is great, its about time! But in regards to 2:15, we need AUTHENTIC high speed rail! He lag behind so many countries when it comes to this
So America is finally implementing technology that is over 40 years old love the progress
As someone who lives just outside Manhattan, and have family in Boston, I am SOOOOO exited for these trains!
so fast, the Earth's frame rate slows down
Much needed
Beautiful!
The USA 's most southwest city, San Diego, should be the terminus for a coastal or I8/I10 corridor line.
Don't worry, the track from San Diego to LA has been shut down due to poor maintenance.
I mean this an ok start, but we really can't use these new trains to their potential without upgrading the rails they run on. My car is capable of "high speed" but the roads and laws don't permit operating it like that. I get that we needed new trains anyways, but i worry that by the time we get the hard infrastructure upgraded, these new trains will be on their way out meaning the potential will not be fully realized during their service life.
So, as nice as these new trains are, they're just lipstick on a pig without a corresponding update to the rails.
Very nice
Beautiful.
From Europe, trains are one of the ONLY things left that we do better than you guys. I'm still routing for you though as a *real* high speed rail line in the north east coast and California would be epic!
Right you are! As an American, I'm confident we will one day have true HSR but it's taking much longer than it should. We are well behind Europe on this matter.
One of the only things? One of the maaany things we do better than the US...ahem, health care
@@paul_ko That's just cause they pay for it
@@bob_0146Do you know that in Europe we pay much less taxes for universal healthcare than you pay with your insurance system that doesn't cover everything or everyone?
Healthcare, elections are the other two
Great news. I'm really excited about this.
After living in East Asia for a while, and now back to the US, glad that high-speed rail is showing up. Still needs a lot of improvement needed, not just in rail, but in public transportation in general. The US needs to catch up regarding this matter to combat traffic congestion, especially in high density area.
Look at them, getting the railways back, it's adorable
Its a shame that USA doesn't have any high speed rail trains except these, every other developed nation has high speed trains. USA is behind in everything compared to other countries.
At least we’ll have more hopefully
Guess Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. aren’t developed countries then lmao.
@@ummmbye1228 let’s hope u get more rails for hst rn u only got the California high speed rail .it’s not attractive if u got a hst on outdated rails sharing with freight train
@@monstertruckwt7207 even though I know you wasn’t talking about the northeast corridor however they’re owned by Amtrak and the cahst is more attractive then Japanese trains you gotta admit
Good luck , with the airlines and the car industry , overpowering the trains . The train in the post war 40's , 50's and early 60's ruled and then the airlines took over .Sad , but true .
They'd need to re-lay the track to really improve the ride.
It's such a shame these trains will be running at much slower speeds because Amtrak seems to have no interest in laying dedicated tracks for commuter trains. We've got the same problem in Canada
brightline is currently the most promising project right now in my opinion. What we need is one operator that has a monopoly on all track in the US. Ideally this would be Amtrak, but currently, with the current political dynamics, and pre existing freight companies with the right of way on most of the track in the US, this would be very difficult. But there's hope. Fingers crossed.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Indonesia has launch the world's first high-speed railway established in the Southern Hemisphere, named Whoosh!
It's already somewhat old by design. 3:09 those power plugs should be universal, like they have on planes. And there should be 1 USB-C and 1 USB-A, not both USB-A.
USB-A and USB-C have no inherent difference, they're just shapes. USB-A can have speeds of USB 3.1 typically associated with USB-C. So that's a non-issue.
@@transfo47 I'm aware. Most people don't have those adapters, though.
“Begin service in mid 2023” it’s not like it’s already 2024 and there not in service
The delay to me is a good thing so I can have a bit more time to catch the old acelas when i can because I really am gonna miss them.
Hard to wait 🙏🙏
To get our rail back on track we should
1. Get these trains everywhere
2. Nationalize our passenger rail
3. Have more dense housing near the stations and have better public transit in cities to get to the Amtrak lines
4. Profit.
Agree, basically what Europe and Japan have, not gonna happen here in the U.S. Too much Nimby and selfishness. Yup, we are the shining city upon a hill.
we need more of this like everywhere!!!!
Doesn't necessarily help that our tracks on the NEC are outdated. I do like the Avelias tho
Awesome.
If only they start paying attention to replacing the tracks. What’s the point in having these new high speed trains if they still travel at half their potential speeds.
They ARE replacing the tracks. It's what's keeping them so late.
Okay but let's be honest until we're seeing speeds that you get in France or Shanghai or Japan it pales in comparison so why would we pay the extra money to shave off like 35 minutes. Going from DC to New York takes about 3 hours or so on the northeast regional and it takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes on the Acela I'd rather save the extra $80 to write an extra 35 minutes it's not that big of a deal now if you were taking me from DC to New York in about an hour and a half or an hour and 25 minutes then we can talk. Why not have the Japanese come over here and build a shinkansen for the region elevated and if you can't go to New York because of the older track why don't they build the elevated track out of the way so we can have faster service
Good that you bought from Alstom, a French company. Awesome trains. West -East connection would be awesome.
😂😂😂 Good that we bought from Alstom??? The new Acela is 3 years late entering service with no start date and is hopelessly plagued with issues. Amtrak made an awful decision choosing Alstom.
@@FFred-us9tw well I checked some websites, don't know the whole story but partially looks like the different track types and age have something to do with it. But no excuses that is not good.
Amazing
What’s the point in investing in high speed rail when you can’t even use it. You had the Acela go 150 and couldn’t use that to your advantage. Fix the track
ROW can always be upgraded. The current trainsets have huge reliability issues due to their weight. The newer trainsets are much lighter which allows for faster acceleration and they don't have the same maintenance issues as the Bombardiers.
@@taoliu3949 ok cool. But will the use them to their full capability?
@@zo62 The NEC already has stretches that allows for speeds of 160mph.
@@taoliu3949 yes the stretch is small is what I’m saying it’s only parts of ny. My point you don’t need to invest in high speed trains when you can barely use them. Use the money to upgrade the tracks to maximize the existing trains. Acela may go away but the other trains go up to 100 but you can’t use them like that
@@zo62 Um, existing trains like the ACS64 that maxes out at 125mph? Oh yes, that would totally improve the service (it doesnt). You do know that Acelas travel times are noticeably shorter than the regional trains, right? You do know that the Acela generates 1/4 of Amtraks total revenue, right? Yes, let's get rid of Amtraks #1 revenue generating asset.
Also, it's not a "small stretch". Amtrak has been steadily upgrading its ROW and plans to have up to half of its tracks rated for 160mph by 2035 between Philly and NYC. A significant portion has already been upgraded to 160mph but Acela can only run at 150mph because it's so heavy. If anything, it's CURRENT trainset cannot make full use of the ROW, not the other way around.
1. It would be nice if the cafe car had edible food, rather than just nuke burgers and nuke breakfast sandwiches and salads. Though unlikely. Equally unlikely would be a paint job that doesn't make the trains look decades old before they go into service. Amtrak has some great paint schemes on standard equipment; why the A2 doesn't is quite a mystery. As to riding on them, it should be a lot smoother, especially if Amtrak fixes some of the awful track somewhat north of DC - plus the new truck design should help. The one thing that this video doesn't mention is the cause of the delays - I've read that the pantographs had to be partially redesigned because of the antique catenary in parts of the NEC. This video gives the first look I've gotten of the gap filler mechanism - looks pretty good, but I hope it's reliable and accommodates different platform edges and heights.
Need more of this but with better tracks and route direction
They'll come out in 2023? No lol they're sitting in Philly right now I've seen them
I can't wait for this to become $50 DLC on Train Simulator!
If only we had high-speed rail nationwide, esp. in more-localized train systems
but... that would, of course, require us to STOP HALF-ASSING public transit in this country!
Something most Americans still don't seem ready for 😢 American citizens- esp. outside big-city areas- seem to have a rather-weird love-hate relationship with public transit, esp. rail. very sad and pathetic...
Car-centricity has just "ruined" so many of our neighborhoods and made getting around way more hassle than it's worth
2:41: "There's is quite a bit of modeling..." LIES. Just say you're delayed because the NEC is a 20th century railway and the new Acela trains have to be made backward compatible in order to use the train.
Tell me where you got this from
@@ummmbye1228 The Washington Post.
expanding high speed or even medium speed service to regions beyond the NE needs to happen. Upping the STL>chicago corridor to 125mph is a good start, but the US needs HSR networks in more regions than just the NE. The entire rust belt should have HSR, plus California, Florida, Texas, Colorado Front Range, Oregon/Washington and the entire eastern seaboard are prime locations for HSR
If you understand geography and the layout of this country, you would understand that “the entire eastern seaboard“ is absolutely not prime territory for HSR. The entire eastern US is built up to the point it would be impossible to run a straight rail line suitable for high speed train travels. As it is now the Northeast Corridor which has speeds up to 150 mph can’t see that speed sustained for the entire length because of how much development there is.
It would be a different story if you were building a rail line before any of that area was ever developed. But it’s far too late to ever be able to accomplish anything like that in your lifetime.
110
@@FFred-us9twas far as the eastern seaboard is concerned (particularly North Carolina) multiple lines could be used
That interior design looks similar to the Tokaido Shinkansen
It has silhouette of Japanese Shinkansen bullet train pointedlocomotuve cab
More so of a Italian train since that’s what it is
@@ummmbye1228 i like how neither of you are correct. Alstom is a French rail stock manufacturer, and the TGVs run on the French High speed rail network like lyon - Paris route. Its just manufactured in Italy due to Alstom having the Alstiom ferroviaria division in Italy.
@@slavvy.mp4884 yes it is part French but it’s design and design roots are italian
@@ummmbye1228 it's design roots are french, it's based on the AGV a french design made for the Italian older rail tracks
@@unepintade yeah at the time my information was mixed up i know that its french
Estados Unidos está muy atrasado respecto a Europa y Asia. No hay trenes rápidos en Estados Unidos
Remember this same train will be in Europe
Well its not efficient to order a Shinkansen 🚄 if u can’t reach 160mph on a 19th century rail
Brightline is amazing
I actually saw one of these while walking outside forest hills station MA (I believe it was one of these)
They are faster - they don't tell you how much faster. Only 10 mph faster. Note that this is limited by track speed. Currently the top speed on the Acela is in Massachusetts approaching Providence, Rhode Island, where it goes 150 mph and a little past Providence, and a new stretch of 16 miles in NJ. This is where the track was straightened. The current trains can go 150 mph. The new ones can go 160 mph. But Amtrak has said at least for now they are not raising the speed there where the rails are welded and the tracks are straight. So for at least the first few months the speeds are unchanged despite what they say. Currently south of NY the fastest the trains go is 130 mph. That will remain the top speed in southern NJ and I took it yesterday, recording a top speed of 131 mph although Amtrak did straighten another 16 miles of track in NJ in 2022 which also allows travel at 150 mph..
You don’t have correct information. Amtrak has 150 MPH sections in Massachusetts AND Rhode Island both east and west of Providence. Been that way for 20+ years.
And they have a 150 MPH section now in NJ that started late last year.
The 150 MPH speeds will all increase to 160 MPH once the new trains enter service.
& there adding another 160 MPH section in Maryland
@@FFred-us9tw You just restated what I did. I said the two stretches of track you stated - Massachusetts approaching Rhode Island (should have added Providence but oh well) and NJ. Amtrak also posted it will stay at 150 for the new trains for the first few months and won't immediately go 160 as you state.
@@JermaniBurroughs That is great to hear! At least some of those additional funds are going to making the trains on the northeast corridor faster on a third stretch.
@@Buc_Stops_Here again, you are speaking incorrect information. The 150 sections are in Massachusetts AND a lot of Rhode Island. You keep saying it’s “approaching Rhode Island. That is not the case. I run the Acela between Boston and NYC almost daily. I’m well aware of where the sections are and the plans for the speed increases
Good video but...
The new Acela are not the fastest trains in western hemisphere, they are downgraded TGVs designed to FRA specifications that prevent high speed trains. (the original Acelas had to be made of heavy steel which prevent high speed, so at least FRA relented in 2018 to allow aluminium shells in use since 1980s in europe ahd Japan).
Brightline is not even close to high speed, it is diesel and heavy steel carriages. Large number of level crossings (and deaths) limit its speed. It may have PR that advertises itself as privately funded, but when you look deeper into the project, you will see huge amout of cash influx from federal and state and municipal governments (which delayed Ollando to Tampa stretch because of competing governments wanted different routes).
The California project is being built as true high speed on tracks and trains capable o going full speed (in 2020s, high speed is close to 300kmh sustained, not reaching it for 30 seconds for bragging rights).
Unfortunately CAHSR is being threatened on the daily by NIMBYs and is also WAY over-budget. But I hope at this point construction has progressed too far to stop.
It’s about time. The U.S. has been behind in the train industry for way too long, because of the government hyper focusing on car infrastructure. Public transit (light rail and high speed real in particular) is the future of transportation, not cars.
yea boii high speed public transit!!