Acela 21 (Avelia Liberty) development, testing and deployment (2Q 2024)

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Given the state of affairs in 2023, when Alstom was unable to produce the necessary simulation software to behave like the actual train, when they were planning to use the simulation software as a component of the certification testing, the very fact that FRA is finding it useful to actually do test runs against a now validated simulation is in itself a huge progress. Before this the project was pretty much dead in the water. Now it is pretty close to getting certified and ready to be deployed.
Will it be deployed in revenue service in 2024?
 
Sounds like KP2022 is going a weird route. They will be going north but I think they exited the Penn Coach Yard south and are going to come through the station and need 2 minutes to reset a breaker.

Don't know if it's Avelia Liberty yet and I didn't hear the testing boundaries.
Avelia Liberty just got around the yard towards the zoo at 8:44PM and is heading north.
Passed over the Schuylkill at 8:47PM on track 1.
 
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Given the state of affairs in 2023, when Alstom was unable to produce the necessary simulation software to behave like the actual train, when they were planning to use the simulation software as a component of the certification testing, the very fact that FRA is finding it useful to actually do test runs against a now validated simulation is in itself a huge progress. Before this the project was pretty much dead in the water. Now it is pretty close to getting certified and ready to be deployed.
Yep, the computer model certification was the biggest stumbling block for Alstom for the longest time, and they finally got it together and passed it in January (reportedly after 14 tries, but they did it). It and the approval to continue testing is the biggest reason why the testing has been coming thick and fast pretty much since April, since they really seem determined to make up for lost time and get them going again, ideally by the end of this year to meet that target which hasn't changed in months. Sounds to me that they're reasonably confident since the target hasn't been moved in nearly a year.
 
Sounds like KP2022 is going a weird route. They will be going north but I think they exited the Penn Coach Yard south and are going to come through the station and need 2 minutes to reset a breaker.

Don't know if it's Avelia Liberty yet and I didn't hear the testing boundaries.
Avelia Liberty just got around the yard towards the zoo at 8:44PM and is heading north.
Passed over the Schuylkill at 8:47PM on track 1.
The trainset was south yesterday. They couldn’t come in the normal way through 2 lead as they were temporarily out of service. So they had to come out the MH and go through the station to get to the testing area.
 
An Avelia Liberty trainset is moving north out of the Penn Coach Yard as of 8:21PM.

At 8:25PM it just started reversing back into the yard.

At 8:30PM it looks like it's continuing south, possibly like last night.

8:51PM CETC-5 gave KP2022 permission to the signal (no idea which one)

9:06PM KP2022 made it around the station (waited for an NJT) and is heading back north past the yard. I'm guessing the testing plan was already discussed over the phone so that's all I got.
 
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Publicly, Amtrak is on the very late 2024 timeline. That might mean running one trainset in revenue service on the 31st, but they haven't publicly said they'll miss that deadline. Yet.

Given the track record Alstom's had recently, the optimistic online opinion is before summer 2025, but it's not clear how much before summer or how many trainsets would actually be available.
 
I heard KP 2022 out last night on the BERRY talking to CTEC-6, I'm not sure if they were doing a Charger test train or something with one of the new highspeed sets. I caught the tail end of the conversation.
It was a Charger set and I summarized the events in the Charger thread. It was a disaster because of multiple speed sensor issues so it looks like they're back out tonight. If you're watching specific traffic cameras on 511pa.com you can sometimes look directly at the Penn Coach Yard or the bridge over the Schuylkill. Yard moves are slow and yard-to-NEC moves often have the train stop right on the bridge in front of Mantua to let revenue trains pass first. There are also additional camera pass-bys along I-95 if none of the other ones is suitable.
 
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