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(I worked on the environmental assessment of the Acela back in the 1990's and worked with testing the first two vehicles off the line in Pueblo and along the NE

(I worked on the environmental assessment of the Acela back in the 1990's and worked with testing the first two vehicles off the line in Pueblo and along the NEC NJ "race track in 2000. The firm I was working for back then also did the noise analysis behind the revised FRA horn noise rules) This article keeps popping up on various geek sites over the years. In addition to the points kposehn brought up, I'll add the following: FRA isn't the reason why HSR sucks. The reason that HSR sucks is because we as a nation don't want to invest in the infrastructure to make a good HSR system. At a minimum that means exclusive ROW (grade-separated crossings) with relatively few stops and long straight sections where it can get up to speed. As for the FTA buffering standards - it really doesn't matter. Yes, the Acela is heavier than the TGV. That extra weight isn't why Acela service sucks. The Acela is perfectly capable of maintaining 155+ mph speeds for extended periods (I witnessed this myself in Acela enduracing testing). The power cars are more than capable of handling the load - during the first few months of Acela operation, there was a problem with the network connection that linked the front and rear power cars. To get service running until the power could be sorted out, the trainsets were run with only one power car operating. Running with one power vs both power cars (and pulling the dead weight of the second power car) only increased DC to Boston run time by 5 minutes. As for cost, the price of an Acela trainset is within the range of most other popular HSR trainsets (TGV, ICE, Pendolino, etc) albiet at the higher end. The effect of the train weight on track wear is minimal as it's the unsprung mass of the train (essentially the wheels, axles, traction motors and brakes) that is proportional to wear, not the static train weight. And train weight has nothing to do with noise. kposehn already commented on DMU but I'll add that the biggest impediment I saw to transit agencies adopting DMU's was that since no one else in the USA had them, transit agencies didn't know what to expect in terms of maintenance, operation, and environmental effects. In fact FRA and FTA were essentially begging transit agencies to try them, and it's only been recently that they've been operating in Vermont and other locations. Finally, regarding FRA horn noise rules: first of all, the preemption of state horn rules originated with Congress who directed FRA to get involved with horn noise (Google "Swift Rail Development Act" for more information). But the reason those rules exist is because whenever there is a grade crossing fatality, inevitably the next of kin sue and all too ofter win in court. As a result, there is a tendency to do anything and everything in the name of "safety" on the part of RR operators, agencies and regulators. As long as this remains true, horns are going to be part of rail travel. edit: btw we had this discussion at ArsTechnica back in 2008 (I'm Anechoic there as well): http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=2671067 http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=2671067

kposehn 15y ago
Awesome! Thanks for posting, really interesting to see what you have to say about working on the Acela. Good point as well about unsprung weight - hadn't thought about that. As the Acela is that powerful (it is based on the TGV Atlantique I believe), what in your opinion is the worst issue that set has faced? I really think that if we could buy off the shelf designs (Shinkansen N700 for example) with minimal adaptation, that would solve a large number of problems. (I'm also more a proponent of HSR with EMU's instead of power cars). I do agree about our nation being unwilling to invest, but I also would add that it is a matter of density. Average travel distance via any HSR line in the US will be much longer than any other nation on the planet, making it much less attractive. There are some corridors which would see benefit, but because of the sprawl that most non-northeast cities have, a train doesn't provide you a realistic way to get from point A to point B outside station-to-station. You still have to get from the platform to your final destination.
- Anechoic 15y ago
  > what in your opinion is the worst issue that set has faced? Well the crappy infrastructure (shared ROW, lots of stops, lots of crossings, 100-year old catanary south of NYC, etc) is by far the most detrimental issue to Acela performance. With regard to the actual Acela vehicles itself: from what the insiders have told me, the worst issue the set has faced was, frankly, the selection of Bombardier/Alstom in the first place. I was told that when FRA auditioned the various HSR vehicles on the NEC (they actually paid to bring over a bunch of European trainsets to the NEC for testing back in the late 80's or early 90's), Siemens told them that their vehicle (ICE) could meet most of FRA/Amtrak's spec with a little work but not everything. Bombardier/Alstom said they could meet all of the performance requirements with no problems. After getting the vehicle contract, Bombardier/Alstom started to agitate about not being able to meet large parts of the specs which led to compromises in the design and delays. By the time FRA/Amtrak realized they made the wrong choice, they were in too deep. Again from what I've heard, if Amtrak/FRA had it to do over again, they would have gone with Siemens. It will be interesting to see what happens when it's time to replace the Acela.
  - kposehn 15y ago

kposehn 15y ago

Awesome! Thanks for posting, really interesting to see what you have to say about working on the Acela. Good point as well about unsprung weight - hadn't thought about that. As the Acela is that powerful (it is based on the TGV Atlantique I believe), what in your opinion is the worst issue that set has faced? I really think that if we could buy off the shelf designs (Shinkansen N700 for example) with minimal adaptation, that would solve a large number of problems. (I'm also more a proponent of HSR with EMU's instead of power cars). I do agree about our nation being unwilling to invest, but I also would add that it is a matter of density. Average travel distance via any HSR line in the US will be much longer than any other nation on the planet, making it much less attractive. There are some corridors which would see benefit, but because of the sprawl that most non-northeast cities have, a train doesn't provide you a realistic way to get from point A to point B outside station-to-station. You still have to get from the platform to your final destination.

Anechoic 15y ago
> what in your opinion is the worst issue that set has faced? Well the crappy infrastructure (shared ROW, lots of stops, lots of crossings, 100-year old catanary south of NYC, etc) is by far the most detrimental issue to Acela performance. With regard to the actual Acela vehicles itself: from what the insiders have told me, the worst issue the set has faced was, frankly, the selection of Bombardier/Alstom in the first place. I was told that when FRA auditioned the various HSR vehicles on the NEC (they actually paid to bring over a bunch of European trainsets to the NEC for testing back in the late 80's or early 90's), Siemens told them that their vehicle (ICE) could meet most of FRA/Amtrak's spec with a little work but not everything. Bombardier/Alstom said they could meet all of the performance requirements with no problems. After getting the vehicle contract, Bombardier/Alstom started to agitate about not being able to meet large parts of the specs which led to compromises in the design and delays. By the time FRA/Amtrak realized they made the wrong choice, they were in too deep. Again from what I've heard, if Amtrak/FRA had it to do over again, they would have gone with Siemens. It will be interesting to see what happens when it's time to replace the Acela.
- kposehn 15y ago