WASHINGTON DC – It’s been twenty-five years since the launch of the original Acela high speed train service by Amtrak.
And on Wednesday, Amtrak launched Next Gen Acela, touting it as history-making in a press release by the company.
“Acela is synonymous with American high-speed trains, and today marks a new era of next-generation service,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris.
But on the day the new train service started from Washington DC, President Donald Trump’s administration took over management of Union Station in the nation’s capital from Amtrak, in a show of force by the federal government over the city.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was there to mark the new Acela service and made the station announcement, while standing next to Amtrak’s President.
“Union Station is walking distance from the Capitol, has fallen into disrepair when it should be a point of pride for the District of Columbia.” Duffy said.
So, does Nex Gen Acela live up to the hype?
One key aspect of the new trains is they are the first high-speed trains to be built in America by the French transportation company Alstom at their Hornell, New York facility at a cost of $2.45 billion according to Amtrak.
But they are also four years later than expected because of technical problems with the trains’ new active tilting technology which is intended to provide for a smoother and faster ride and connection to the catenary system that provides power.
Amtrak says there will be 28 new trains, and the new Acela has almost a third more seating capacity.
They also say the train will be 10 mph faster, reaching speeds of 160 mph, although those speeds will only be possible in four places along corridor between Washington and Boston due to state and federal rules and the limits of the existing rails. Those spots include one stretch of rails in New Jersey, two areas in Rhode Island and one section in Massachusetts, or a total of about 40 miles out of the 453 journey between Washington and Boston.
Amtrak has said that the ticket cost for the new service isn’t more expensive than the current service, but when booking on their mobile app, many of the tickets for the new train were available only at a significant premium.
Asked about the price differential an Amtrak spokesman explained that the higher cost represented higher demand.
“We are not charging extra for NextGen, but our fares are dynamically priced based on demand. The demand for the trains are higher, thus the prices are higher. But the initial rate is the same as the First Gen Acela. This is standard practice across Amtrak and the travel industry.”
That same spokesperson also acknowledged that the trip times on Nex Gen Acela, for the time being, would be about the same as current service.
“Trip time improvements will continue to be determined based on infrastructure improvements we will also make along the Corridor. This includes updating and modernizing the tracks and overhead wires. We have the commitment and investments to continue to make these changes.”
According to Amtrak, by spring 2026 the company hopes that more than half of daily Acela departures would be on new trains.
According to Amtrak’s ridership figures, in Fiscal Year 2024 Acela on the northeast corridor carried almost 3.3 million passengers — that’s less than a third of the almost 11 million riders on their regular northeast regional trains over the same route.
The new trains offer 5G internet, increased passenger space and a sizeable café for a 7-hour journey, but with Acela tickets priced between $500 and almost $750, one-way, it appears an expensive alternative to airlines that now offer tickets for between $60 and $140 dollars for a flight lasting a little over an hour and a half.