Word: acela
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...Acela Express zooms along the New England coastline at up to 150 m.p.h., bare trees and backyards flying by, it's hard to believe that the nation's first high-speed train is really the work of Amtrak. Where is the sluggish, lurching ride we've come to count on--and curse--from the nation's famously floundering passenger-rail operator...
...still there, in most of the U.S. But a trip from New York City to Boston that can take close to five hours is now over in about three and a quarter, thanks to a new "tilting" technology that helps the Acela negotiate curves. More than a year behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget, the Acela, which is expected to launch in the Washington-Boston Northeast corridor on Dec. 11, is Amtrak's last chance to prove that intercity passenger rail can be a legitimate travel alternative in the U.S., as it is in Europe and Japan...
...train modeled on France's futuristic TGV (train a grande vitesse). Now scheduled to launch in July, the Amtrak bullet has been delayed as builders attempt to adapt European tilting technology to America's rough freight tracks. Meanwhile, Amtrak is introducing other improvements to its Northeastern service under the Acela logo--primarily a reduction of the Boston-New York trip from five hours to just under four, using newly electrified tracks. The bullet train, a.k.a. the Acela Express, will reach speeds of up to 150 m.p.h., cutting the trip further, down to three hours...
Since the bullet train is still being tested on safety runs, I took one of the less glamorous trains that feature refurbished cars pulled by the electric Acela engine. With a coach seat running $112 round trip off-peak and $142 peak, the Acela Regional is cheaper than the cheapest coach seat on the Delta Air Lines shuttle between these two cities...
Still, we arrived right on time heading both up and back. And instead of facing a $30 cab ride from the airport, I was right in the heart of the city. That may be the best thing about Acela or any train travel: the getting there is getting good, but the being there is better...