Acela

| map =

The Acela ( ; originally the Acela Express until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship passenger train service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Acela trains are the fastest in the Americas, reaching , qualifying as high-speed rail, but only for approximately of the route.

In fiscal year 2025, Acela carried more than 3.1 million passengers, second only to the slower and less expensive Northeast Regional, which had over 12 million passengers. Ridership was down from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic high of 3,557,455 passengers in 2019. Its 2025 revenue of $570 million was around 20.6% of Amtrak's total.

Acela operates along routes that are used by slower regional passenger traffic, and only reaches the maximum allowed speed of the tracks along some sections, with the fastest peak speed along segments between Mansfield, Massachusetts, and Richmond, Rhode Island, as well as between South Brunswick and Trenton, New Jersey. Acela trains use active tilting technology, which helps control lateral centrifugal force, allowing the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers. The high-speed operation occurs mostly along the route from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to Union Station in Washington, D.C., with a fastest scheduled time of 2 hours and 45 minutes and an average speed of , including time spent at intermediate stops. Over this route, Acela and the Northeast Regional service captured an 83% share of air/train commuters between New York and Washington in 2021, up from 37% in 2000.

The Acela speed is limited by traffic and infrastructure on the route's northern half. On the section from Boston's South Station to New York's Penn Station, the fastest scheduled time is 3 hours and 30 minutes, or an average speed of . Along this section, Acela has captured a 54% share of the combined train and air market. The entire route from Boston to Washington takes between 6 hours, 38 minutes and 6 hours, 50 minutes,

The original Acela Express equipment began being replaced by new Avelia Liberty trainsets, which Amtrak markets as the NextGen Acela, in 2025. The new trains have greater passenger capacity and an enhanced active tilt system that allows higher speed on the many curved sections of the route. The first five trainsets entered passenger service on August 28, 2025.

History

Background

Following the success of Japan's newly inaugurated Shinkansen network in the 1960s, the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 authorized the U.S. government to explore the creation of high-speed rail, which resulted in the introduction of the higher-speed Metroliner trains between Washington, D.C., and New York City in 1969, the predecessor to Acela. During the 1980s, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration explored the possibilities of high-speed rail in the United States. On December 18, 1991, five potential high speed rail corridors were authorized, including the Northeast Corridor.

In the early 1990s, Amtrak tested several different high-speed trains from Europe on the Northeast Corridor. An X 2000 train was leased from Sweden for test runs from October 1992 to January 1993, followed by revenue service between Washington, D.C., and New York City from February to May and August to September 1993. Siemens showed the ICE 1 train from Germany, organizing the ICE Train North America Tour which started to operate on the Northeast Corridor on July 3, 1993.

Building and development

With the testing of the trains from Europe complete, Amtrak was able to define a set of specifications for high-speed equipment and in October 1994, Amtrak requested bids from train manufacturers for a trainset that could reach . A consortium of Bombardier (75%) and GEC Alsthom (now Alstom) (25%) was selected in March 1996. Several changes were made to the corridor to make it suitable for higher-speed electric trains. The Northend Electrification Project extended existing electrification from New Haven, Connecticut, to Boston to complete the overhead power supply along the route, and several grade crossings were improved or removed. Prior to 2000, all trains bound for Boston had to switch to diesel power at New Haven.

A pilot trainset was completed by early 2000 and sent to Transportation Technology Center (TTC) for testing in June 2000. An inaugural VIP run of the Acela occurred on November 16, 2000, followed by the first revenue run on December 11, 2000, a few months after the intended date.

Cost

Amtrak's original contract with the Bombardier-Alstom consortium was for the delivery of 20 trainsets (six coaches each, with power cars at front and rear) for $800 million. By 2004, Amtrak had settled contract disputes with the consortium, paying a total of $1.2 billion for the 20 trainsets plus 15 extra high-speed locomotives and the construction of maintenance facilities in Boston, New York, and Washington.

Impact of the Acela

thumb|Vice President [[Joe Biden and Senator Arlen Specter riding the Acela Express to Philadelphia in February 2009]]

By 2005, Amtrak's share of the common-carrier market between New York and Boston had reached 40%, from 18% pre-Acela. With the increasing popularity of the faster, modern Acela Express, Metroliner service was phased out in late 2006. To meet the demand, more Acela services were added in September 2005. By August 2008 crowding had become noticeable.

By 2011, the Acela fleet had reached half of its designed service life. Amtrak proposed several replacement options, including one as part of its A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor. In 2011, Amtrak announced that forty new Acela coaches would be ordered in 2012 to increase capacity on existing trainsets. The existing trains would have received two more coaches, lengthening the trainsets from a 1-6-1 configuration to 1-8-1 (power car—passenger cars—power car). The longer trainsets would have required the modifications of the Acela maintenance facilities in Boston, New York and Washington. The first of the stretched trainsets was to have entered service in fiscal year 2014. This plan was cancelled in 2012 in favor of replacing, rather than refurbishing, the Acela fleet.

In January 2014, Amtrak issued a request for proposals on 28 or more new model Acela trainsets, in a combined order with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. After discussions with manufacturers, Amtrak and the California High Speed Rail Authority concluded their needs were too disparate for common rolling stock and decided not to pursue the joint option.

Fleet replacement

After the joint high-speed trainset procurement with California collapsed in 2014, Amtrak proceeded on its own. On August 26, 2016, then–Vice President Joe Biden announced a $2.45 billion federal loan to finance new equipment and Northeast Corridor upgrades, and Amtrak selected Alstom's Avelia Liberty design, marketed as the NextGen Acela, ordering 28 trainsets to replace the 20 first-generation sets. The larger fleet was intended to allow hourly New York–Boston service all day and half-hourly New York–Washington service at peak hours, with assembly taking place at Alstom's plants in Hornell and Rochester, New York. The trainsets were initially expected to begin revenue service in 2021, with the entire fleet delivered the following year. An October 2023 audit by the Amtrak Office of Inspector General found the program over budget and reported that each of the 12 trainsets built so far had defects—among them hydraulic leaks in the tilt system, corrosion caused by water pooling between cars, and five windows that had shattered spontaneously—and that Alstom had begun building trains before validating the crash-simulation model needed for FRA certification. With the new fleet delayed, the first-generation sets were kept running well beyond their planned retirement, and Amtrak began removing several from service to harvest parts.

On January 13, 2024, after the simulation model finally passed, the FRA cleared the Avelia Liberty for on-track testing between Washington and Boston. Qualification testing was completed and a spring 2025 launch was targeted; after that date passed, Amtrak revised its estimate to "coming soon". On August 7, 2025, Amtrak announced that the trains would debut on August 28, and the first five trainsets entered revenue service that day.

Branding

Before the introduction of the Acela, several classes of trains operated on the Northeast Corridor: the express Metroliners, the Philadelphia-New York Clockers, Empire Service trains between New York City and Niagara Falls via the Empire Corridor, Keystone Service trains between New York City and to Harrisburg via the Keystone Corridor, and the umbrella term NortheastDirect, applied to other trains on the corridor (in addition to unique names assigned to many departures).

thumb|An Acela Regional train at [[South Station, Boston, in 2002]]

Amtrak announced the Acela name in March 1999 as a part of the original announcement of the service itself.

The branding team based the name "Acela" on the concepts of "acceleration" and "excellence". At the same time, Amtrak launched what it called the Capstone Program, a short-lived plan to rebrand the NortheastDirect, Keystone Service and Empire Service trains as Acela Regional and the Clocker trains as Acela Commuter.

The Acela Regional name was first applied to NortheastDirect trains 130–133 in 2000. Those trains became the first electrified trains to run on the full Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston. As more trains were electrified, they too were rebranded.

Following widespread rider confusion in distinguishing the three services, Amtrak removed the branding from the lower-speed Acela Regional and Acela Commuter trains in 2003.

In 2019, Amtrak shortened the name of the service from Acela Express to simply Acela.

Engineering

First-generation trainsets

thumb|First-generation Acela Express trainset in New Jersey, May 2021

The first-generation Acela trainset is a unique set of vehicles designed specifically to satisfy governmental rolling stock requirements established primarily by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). This includes the ability to withstand a collision with a freight train at speed without collapsing. Most manufacturers that bid on the Acela were unable to meet the structural requirements, due to increased costs and complications for the manufacture of the trains, and the need for manufacturers to make significant engineering changes to their standard designs. In the end, only three qualified bidders remained: ABB (Swedish-Swiss manufacturer of the X 2000 train), Siemens (manufacturer of the German ICE), and a consortium of Bombardier (manufacturer of the LRC trains) and Alstom (manufacturer of the French TGV).

The tilting carriages are based upon Bombardier's earlier LRC trains used on Via Rail rather than the TGV's non-tilting articulated trailers. Acela power cars and passenger cars are much heavier than those of the TGV in order to meet the FRA's crash standards. French and Canadian crews testing the Acela referred to it as "the pig" due to its weight. The extra weight leads to the Acela power-to-weight ratio being about 22.4 hp per tonne, compared to 30.8 hp for a SNCF TGV Reseau trainset.

Second-generation trainsets

thumb|Second-generation Avelia Liberty trainset passes through [[Edison station in New Jersey on , the first day of service]]

The second-generation Acela equipment is the Alstom Avelia Liberty, marketed by Amtrak as the NextGen Acela and part of the company's Avelia family of high-speed trains, developed specifically for the North American market. Its passenger cars derive from the AGV used in Italy, the concentrated power cars share their design with the Avelia Horizon developed for the French TGV network, and the tilt system is adapted from the Pendolino. As with the first generation, the design was adapted to satisfy FRA crashworthiness requirements, in this case through Alstom's crash-energy-management system rather than the heavier conventional structures used on the original Acela. Each set carries 386 passengers—378 seats plus eight wheelchair spaces—roughly 25% more than the 304-seat first-generation set. The two power cars provide a combined output of about , and the trainsets are designed for with tilt disabled and in tilting service, though they are limited to by current Northeast Corridor track and signaling.

South of the Delaware River, the Acela<nowiki />'s top speed is . Passenger operation at began in this region in late May 2022.

The fastest schedule between New York and Washington, DC, was 2 hours, 43 minutes in 2012. $450 million was allotted by President Barack Obama's administration to replace catenary and upgrade signals between Trenton and New Brunswick, which will allow speeds of over a stretch. The improvements were scheduled to be completed in 2016, but have been delayed; the project was partially completed in late May 2022, with the remainder projected in 2024. This section of track holds the record for the highest speed by a train in the US, which is , achieved in a test run by the U.S./Canada-built UAC TurboTrain on December 20, 1967.

North of New York City, Amtrak upgraded the track along the Connecticut shoreline east of New Haven to allow maximum speeds in excess of , in preparation for the Acela launch. Although this area contains the fastest current operating speeds (), it also has the slowest section of the NEC: between New Rochelle, New York, and New Haven, Connecticut. This section is owned by Metro-North Railroad and the Connecticut Department of Transportation and is heavily used by commuter trains which limit the speed of the Acela. Amtrak's trains achieve only on a limited stretch in New York State and rarely exceed at any time eastbound through Connecticut until reaching New Haven. In 1992, ConnDOT began plans to upgrade the catenary system and replace outdated bridges on the New Haven Line to enable the Acela to run slightly faster. the catenary replacement and bridge work were under way and expected to be completed by mid-2018.

On July 9, 2007, Amtrak introduced a limited-stop round trip, with trains stopping only at Philadelphia between New York and Washington. This shortened the trip between the two cities to 2 hours 35 minutes, making the trip roughly an hour faster than some of the Northeast Regional train services. These trains were an experiment to find ways to expedite travel time on the Acela; Amtrak has since dropped them.

High speed infrastructure

The dense population of the northeastern United States makes the Northeast Corridor the most heavily traveled portion of the American passenger rail system. Two-thirds of rail passengers in the United States live in or near New York City, also home to the nation's busiest passenger rail station, Penn Station. In order to compete with airliners, Amtrak needed to increase the speed of trains in the region. The former Shore Line from New Haven to Boston is burdened by sharp turns and grade crossings, the crossings being of special concern.

Tilting enables passengers to ride more comfortably on curved sections of track faster than would otherwise be possible, by leaning into the bend. Acela trainsets use active tilting above on most of the system, but some segments of track in the Northeast Corridor are too close together for the cars to safely tilt while maintaining FRA minimum space between trains on parallel tracks. Metro-North Railroad restricts tilting on the segment of track north of New York which it owns. The system was originally designed for a 6.8° tilt, but the cars were redesigned wider to accommodate wider seats and aisles that reduced allowable tilt to 4.2° to fit within the clearance constraints of the existing tracks.

Acela travels between Boston and New York in about three and a half hours (an improvement of half an hour); New York to Washington runs take a minimum of two hours and forty-five minutes.

Platform track speeds

thumb|Acela passing through a platform track at Kingston Station in Rhode Island at 150 mph.

Due to the high speed at which Acela trains bypass platforms of local stations, concerns have mounted in some communities over inadequate warnings and safeguards for passengers waiting for other trains, including that the two-foot wide yellow platform markings may not keep people at a safe distance. At Kingston station in Rhode Island and Mansfield station in Massachusetts, Acela trains pass by at . Suggestions include platform safety barriers, or use of different announcements for approaching Acela trains versus slower ones.

Outages

In August 2002, shortly after their introduction, Acela trainsets were briefly removed from service when the brackets that connected truck (bogie) dampers (shocks) to the powerunit carbodies ("yaw dampers") were found to be cracking. The Acela returned to service when a program of frequent inspections was instituted. The damper brackets have since been redesigned and old brackets replaced by the newer design.

On April 15, 2005, the Acela was removed from service when cracks were found in the disc brakes of many passenger coaches. The Bombardier-Alstom consortium replaced the discs under warranty. Limited service resumed in July 2005, as a portion of the fleet operated with new brake discs. Metroliner trains, which the Acela Express was intended to replace, filled in during the outage. Amtrak announced on September 21, 2005, that all 20 trainsets had been returned to full operation.

In October 2012, Acela service was cancelled immediately before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy, which damaged the North River Tunnels causing lasting delays and reliability problems.

In March 2020, all Acela trips were suspended as part of a round of service reduction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Amtrak resumed Acela service on June 1, 2020.

Service

Composition

The Acela Express trainset consists of two power cars, a Café car, a First Class car, and four Business Class cars, semi-permanently coupled together. It has fewer seats than its regional service counterparts. The First Class car has 44 seats, being three seats across (one on one side, two on the other side), four-seat tables and assigned seating. There are 260 Business Class seats on each trainset; these cars have four seats across (two on each side), four-seat tables, and assigned seating.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! Car no. !! !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! !! Total

|- style="vertical-align:top"

! Designation

| Power || First Class || colspan="4" | Business Class || Café || colspan="2" | Business Class || Business Class (quiet car) || Power ||

! Capacity

| — || 43 || 39 || 49 || 49 || 49 || — || 49 || 49 || 59 || — || 386

Operations and staffing

Acela offers two classes of seating, Business Class and First Class. Unlike most other Amtrak trains, Business Class is the de facto standard class on Acela trains; there is no coach service.

Acela maintenance is generally taken care of at the Ivy City facility in Washington, DC; Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York; or Southampton Street Yard in Boston.

The Acela trainsets underwent minor refurbishments between mid-2009 and 2010 at Penn Coach Yard, next to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These refurbishments included new blue leather seats throughout the trainset.

In May 2018, Amtrak announced a 14-month program to refresh the interiors of the Acela trainsets, including new seat cushions and covers, new aisle carpeting, and a deep clean. This refurbishment program has been completed as of June 2019.

Wi-Fi service

Wireless Internet station service began in 2004. In 2010, with services provided by The GBS Group, all Acela trains began offering "AmtrakConnect" supporting IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and standard VPN connections. In 2016, Amtrak upgraded to a faster wifi service.

Staffing

Generally, Amtrak train crews consist of an engineer, a conductor, and at least one assistant conductor. Acela trains also have an On-Board Service crew consisting of two First Class attendants and a Café Car attendant. In addition to the food service provided in the Café Car, on most trains an attendant will also provide at-seat cart service, serving refreshments throughout the train. First Class passengers are served meals at their seats on all services.

Notable incidents

During the Northeast blackout of 2003, a northbound Acela Express train was stuck on the Hell Gate Bridge for over nine hours, until a rescue engine from Sunnyside Yard was able to tow the train back to New York's Penn Station.
The first Acela grade crossing accident occurred on September 27, 2005, when a car rolled under closed crossing gate arms in Waterford, Connecticut, and was struck by a train traveling at , killing three automobile passengers. None of the 130 Acela passengers were injured. The gates were found to have been functioning properly, but the incident drew much criticism regarding the eleven remaining grade crossings along Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor.
On March 24, 2017, an Acela Express train derailed at low speed in New York's Penn Station, during morning rush hour. All 248 passengers were safely evacuated. The derailment was caused by a defective section of track, of which Amtrak was aware, but had not yet fixed.
On February 6, 2018, Acela Express train No. 2150 split apart between the first and second cars in the trainset, at , near Havre de Grace, Maryland. There were no injuries of the crew nor the 52 passengers on board, who were transferred to Northeast Regional train No. 180.

Station stops

{|class="wikitable mw-collapsible"

!State

!Town/City

!Station

!Connections

|rowspan=3|Massachusetts||rowspan=2|Boston||South Station||: , : Fairmount Line, , Fall River/New Bedford Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, Greenbush Line, Kingston Line, Needham Line, : , Intercity bus services at South Station Bus Terminal

|Back Bay|| Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Lake Shore Limited : Framingham/Worcester Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, Needham Line, Providence/Stoughton Line :

|Westwood|||| Amtrak: Northeast Regional : Providence/Stoughton Line

|Rhode Island||Providence|||| Amtrak: Northeast Regional : Providence/Stoughton Line Rhode Island Public Transit Authority Amtrak Thruway

| rowspan="2" |Connecticut||New Haven||Union Station|| Amtrak: , Northeast Regional, CTrail: Hartford Line, Shore Line East Metro-North: CTtransit New Haven Intercity bus: FlixBus, Greyhound, Peter Pan

|Stamford|||| Amtrak: Northeast Regional, Vermonter Metro-North: CTtransit Stamford Intercity bus: Greyhound

|New York||New York||New York Penn Station|| Amtrak (long-distance): , , Lake Shore Limited, , Silver Meteor Amtrak (intercity): , , , , Ethan Allen Express, Keystone Service, , , , Long Island Rail Road: , NJ Transit: , , , , , NYC Subway: MTA Bus Intercity bus: FlixBus, Tripper Bus, Vamoose Bus

| rowspan="2" |New Jersey||Newark||Newark Penn Station|| Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Vermonter Newark Light Rail NJ Transit: , , PATH: NJ Transit Intercity bus: FlixBus, Greyhound, Coach USA, Fullington Trailways

|Iselin|||| Amtrak: Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Vermonter NJ Transit: Local bus: NJ Transit

|Pennsylvania

|Philadelphia

|30th Street Station|| Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Keystone Service, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Vermonter SEPTA Regional Rail: all routes NJ Transit: : SEPTA City Bus, SEPTA Suburban Bus, NJ Transit Intercity bus: Martz Trailways

|Delaware||Wilmington|||| Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Vermonter SEPTA Regional Rail: DART First State Intercity bus: Greyhound

| rowspan="2" |Maryland

| rowspan="2" |Baltimore||Baltimore Penn Station|| Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Pennsylvanian, Silver Meteor, Vermonter MARC: Light RailLink MTA Maryland, Charm City Circulator

| || Amtrak: Crescent, Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Vermonter MARC: Shuttle to Baltimore/Washington International Airport MTA Maryland, UMBC Transit

|District of Columbia||Washington||Washington Union Station|| Amtrak: Cardinal, Carolinian, Crescent, , Northeast Regional, Palmetto, Silver Meteor, Vermonter, Amtrak Thruway MARC: , , Virginia Railway Express: , Metro: Red Line Metrobus, MTA Maryland, Loudoun County Transit, PRTC Intercity bus: FlixBus, Greyhound, BestBus, Peter Pan, OurBus

A limited number of Acela trains previously stopped at New Rochelle, New York; New London, Connecticut; and Trenton, New Jersey; service was eliminated in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

References

Notes

External links

Transit Information – On Track On Line