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My main issue with the Acela is it’s only partially high-speed. It only hits top speed of 150mph on a short stretch between Boston and NY. And due to turns on
by alistairSH 4y ago
My main issue with the Acela is it’s only partially high-speed. It only hits top speed of 150mph on a short stretch between Boston and NY. And due to turns on this stretch, it only averages ~70mph. The rest of the line is capped at 135mph. Over the whole DC-Boston route, it saves about an hour over regular rail, but it could/should be even faster.
- ghaff 4y agoOne of the big wins of Acela was it got the route north of New Haven electrified which saves a good often 30 minutes off the pre-Acela regional train run because an engine switch is no longer necessary even for the non-Acela runs. Would have been nice for Acela to be higher speed overall--it's usually not that practical for a Boston to DC run especially given that both cities have pretty convenient transit links to their airports. But I suspect the cost delta compared to Acela as realized would have been huge given how built up most of the corridor is. And it's still pretty competitive with flying unless you have an early meeting and can't/don't want to go down the night before from BOS/RTE to NYP.
- AlbertCory 4y agoYeah, I'd add that in both NY and DC, the train station is a much shorter distance between where you're likely to be and where you probably want to go. Penn Station and Union Station are pretty convenient.
- ghaff 4y agoReagan/National is pretty good for the Metro as well. Presumably the airport->Manhattan situation still kinda sucks though I haven't personally experienced it recently.
- AlbertCory 4y agoOddly enough, I was staying in NYC in a friend's place near Gracie Mansion, and La Guardia was amazingly convenient. It has kinda that Mad Men vibe, too.