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, New York City and Philadelphia. Acela trains are the fastest in the Americas, reaching 150-160 mph, qualifying as high-speed rail, but only for approximately 40 mi of the 457 mi route.[3]
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.[4] Ridership was down from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic high of 3,557,455 passengers in 2019.[5] Its 2025 revenue of $570 million was around 20.6% of Amtrak's total.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] The high-speed operation occurs mostly along the 226 mi 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 82 mph, including time spent at intermediate stops.[9][10] 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.[11]
The Acela speed is limited by traffic and infrastructure on the route's northern half. On the 231 mi 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 66 mph.[12][13] Along this section, Acela has captured a 54% share of the combined train and air market.[14][15] The entire 457 mi route from Boston to Washington takes between 6 hours, 38 minutes and 6 hours, 50 minutes,[12] at an average speed of around 70 mph.[16]
The original Acela Express equipment began being replaced by new Avelia Liberty trainsets in 2025.[17] 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.[18][19] The first five trainsets entered passenger service on August 28, 2025.[20][21]
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.[22]
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.[23]
Engineering
First-generation trainsets
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).[33]
The design, using identical 6,200 hp power cars at each end which operate on voltages of 12 kV, 12.5 kV, and 25 kV AC, and either 25 or 60 Hz frequency, derives several components from the TGV, such as the third-generation TGV's traction system (including the four asynchronous AC motors per power car, rectifiers, inverters, and regenerative braking), the trucks/bogies structure (a long-wheelbase dual transom H frame welded steel with outboard mounted tapered roller bearings), the brake discs (although there are only three per axle, versus four on the TGV), and crash energy management techniques to control structural deformation in the event of an accident.
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.[2] Baggage may be stowed in overhead compartments or underneath seats. Trains are wheelchair-accessible. Each car has one or two toilets, with one being ADA compliant. The Business Class car adjacent to First Class is designated as a quiet car, where passengers are asked to refrain from loud talking and phone conversations. Automatic sliding doors between cars reduce noise.
The original production sets are formed as follows:[56]
Compared to the original Acela trainsets, the NextGen trainsets have 43 seats in First Class and 343 seats in Business Class, of which 8 of these seats are a wheelchair space.
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.[98]
- 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 70 mph, killing three automobile passengers. None of the 130 Acela passengers were injured. The gates were found to have been functioning properly,[99][100] but the incident drew much criticism regarding the eleven remaining grade crossings along Amtrak's busy Northeast Corridor.[101]
- On March 24, 2017, an Acela Express train derailed at low speed in
Station stops
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.[106][107][108][109]
See also
- List of high-speed trains
- List of Amtrak routes
Further reading
External links
References
- Acela Express Overview Amtrak, retrieved April 21, 2015^
- Acela Express, United States of America Railway Technology, retrieved September 3, 2014^
- Northeast Corridor Employee Timetable #1 National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), February 5, 2024, retrieved June 12, 2025