AC Express

[MrEd]

I think this has been talked about for some time, but now it about to start up.

http://www.acestrain.com/

"top of the line" leather seats for coach and first class.

ACES will provide customers a safe, comfortable and convenient travel experience between New

York and Atlantic City with a stop in Newark. The eight multi-level rail cars will offer passengers

upgraded leather seating, a private lounge, custom-designed food and beverage kiosks and both first and coach class travel experiences. First-class seating is found on the upper deck of the train with servers available for food and beverage options.

 

[darien-l]

Service starts February 6, and tickets can be booked on Amtrak.com! Use the code ACE for Atlantic City.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Runs Friday - Sunday. So where does this "exclusive" set with leather seats and lounge bar spend the rest of the week? In service on other routes?

 

[Long Train Runnin']

Runs Friday - Sunday. So where does this "exclusive" set with leather seats and lounge bar spend the rest of the week? In service on other routes?

It doesn't run on any other routes... I guess it just sits somewhere until the weekend rolls around. I am not sure where they park them during the week though.

 

[AlanB]

Runs Friday - Sunday. So where does this "exclusive" set with leather seats and lounge bar spend the rest of the week? In service on other routes?

It doesn't run on any other routes... I guess it just sits somewhere until the weekend rolls around. I am not sure where they park them during the week though.

My guess is that they'll be parked at the Mickey Mouse Club yards.

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

It doesn't run on any other routes... I guess it just sits somewhere until the weekend rolls around. I am not sure where they park them during the week though.

Wow. That sounds like a waste of equipment. But I guess if the casinos paid for the full cost of the equipment (is that actually the case?) there's nothing to argue with.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Would there be any market for a limited stop commuter service during the week along the same route? Perhaps at a premium to existing services? I have no idea about this market, but I do know that parking up rolling stock for half the week doesn't sound like good utilisation of resources...

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

Would there be any market for a limited stop commuter service during the week along the same route?

Does the current track that physically exists today have spare capacity at peak times? strikes me as the more important question, and I strongly suspect that the answer to that for the track going into NYP from New Jersey is ``no'' during peak times.

Actually, I suspect of all the commuter track anywhere in the US, the tunnels from New Jersey to NYP probably have the least capacity set aside as spare for schedule recovery in the event of any problem of any commuter tracks anywhere in the country.

 

[AlanB]

Would there be any market for a limited stop commuter service during the week along the same route? Perhaps at a premium to existing services? I have no idea about this market, but I do know that parking up rolling stock for half the week doesn't sound like good utilisation of resources...

I'd bet that there would be a market on the NEC for a premium service, and it would probably be rather sucessful.

I see three problems with that idea though. One, since AFAIK the casinos did indeed help pay the costs of the cars, they get a say in what happens to those cars. Two, NJT is already trying to figure out how to get more commuters into NYP. This train would take up a valuable slot in the tunnels, yet put less commuters into NYP. Three, and this is the biggie, any commuter service needs to run 5 days a week. The Gamblers Express runs on Fridays, a normal commuter day and therefore the equipment would be unavailable for commuter service.

 

[Long Train Runnin']

For those interested I found these shots of the inside of the train

First Class Seats 75 dollars one way.

Coach Seats for just 50 dollars one way

Picture of the lounge that you can rent for just 400 dollars one way on top of everyones rail fare :blink:

Comments welcome they can be found on my picsa at

http://picasaweb.google.com/stephenmontero/AcesInsideShots#

 

[had8ley]

I strongly suspect that the Atlantic City casino's Las Vegas cousins will be closely monitoring this service. Vegas has pulled out all the stops to try and get people to a town that has one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the country brought on by billion dollar projects being stopped in mid-stream.(I have an unsolicited voucher for free room, food and drink for as long as I want to go but am shackled to the house at the present time.) One of the most popular trains in pre-Amtrak days were the LA-Vegas gambler's "Specials" and with a little innovation I firmly believe that they will run again sometime in the near future. Just one man's half cent look into a rusty crystal ball.