Amtrak Debuts New Acela Trains, Begins Southampton Yard Expansion
Next week, on Thursday, Aug. 28, Amtrak will debut its new “NextGen” trains on its electrified Acela route between Washington, New York City, and Boston.
The new fleet of trains has been in the works since 2016, when Amtrak signed a contract with manufacturer Alstom to replace the 20 original Acela trainsets that entered service in 2000.
The new fleet will have more trains, with 28 trainsets in service by 2027, and 27 percent more seats per train, according to Amtrak.
The new equipment will also have a slightly higher top speed of 160 mph, compared to 150 mph with the current fleet.
Initially, though, only five new trains will be in service next week, and the new trains will adhere to the same schedules, with no difference in trip times for now.
Amtrak advises that passengers can book rides on the new trains by looking for the “Nextgen” badge on the Amtrak.com reservations website (see screenshot at left).
More new trains on the way for other New England Amtrak routes
Several other Amtrak routes will also be getting new trains in the near future. The agency expects to debut its new Airo trainsets in the next two years, to replace its 1970s-era Amfleet coaches.
The first new Airo trains are expected to start running on the Cascades route in the Pacific Northwest next year.
In 2027, Amtrak plans to bring new Airo trains to New England, where they’ve eventually serve the Valley Flyer, Vermonter, Downeaster, and Northeast Regional routes.
Earlier this week, Amtrak also announced that it had begun work on a major expansion of its Southampton Yard maintenance facility in Boston, in conjunction with two other large rail yard modernization projects in Washington and New York.
The Southampton Yard expansion will build a new two-track maintenance and inspection facility adjacent to the existing building, and renovate the service facility into a two-track service and cleaning facility for the new Airo trainsets.
An Amtrak spokesperson explained that while Southampton Yard will also serve the new Acela trains, the expansion is primarily for the benefit of the new Airo trains, whose trainsets are designed as a single, cohesive unit, unlike most of Amtrak’s current equipment.
“Moving from an individual railcar to trainset design necessitates these changes,” the spokesperson explained.
Some site work for two new storage tracks is already underway (see below).
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