Texan Eagle
Conductor
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2011
- Messages
- 1,705
This could be filed under travelogue but I want to raise two issues here so posting in General Discussions
I got on an Acela Express for the first time yesterday, for a short joyride from Boston to Providence to see what 150 mph feels like. Some observations from the journey-
- I saw in person what I had read some of the AU members mention here- passengers were lining up for the Acela at the end of the platform and one lady with no luggage at all went to the front of the line, handed over a few dollar bills to a Redcap, he moved the barrier and let her in into the train first before the line. Isn't this sheer bribery and cheating? I agree people with luggage and physical problem with general boarding should be allowed to pre-board if they avail Redcap services, but allowing a person to jump the queue and board first fits the definition of "bribe" in my opinion. Just because you have extra money to shell out, that should not give you privilege to abuse the system. I wouldn't mind if Amtrak had an official pre-boarding policy with extra charge like the airlines do, but here the money isn't going to Amtrak through official channels, you are just bribing a redcap to get things done your way. Does no one feel this is unethical?
- My hopes of seeing 150 mph run were dashed. Waste of money. We never touched 150 mph between Boston and Providence. The stretch where it was supposed to hit 150 was crawled at 30 to 50 mph thanks to a MBTA commuter train that was sent just ahead of the Acela and kept slowing us behind it. This is a prime example why high speed rail should run on dedicated infrastructure and not mixed with slow traffic.
- The positives- I was blown away by the acceleration capability of the Acela. The way we started off from Back Bay and hit 80 mph from 0 in no time was amazing. Also the tilt on curves feels, well, for lack of a better word, fascinating to a first time rider. Cool stuff.
- Even on a Sunday afternoon the Acela had very nice occupancy, almost 80% full. I can imagine on weekdays it runs 100% full?
PS: To be fair, we did hit a top speed of 148 mph (236 km/hr for me comfortable with metric system) for a few seconds in one brief sprint before slowing down to 100 mph again. Recorded the event on photo for posterity.
I got on an Acela Express for the first time yesterday, for a short joyride from Boston to Providence to see what 150 mph feels like. Some observations from the journey-
- I saw in person what I had read some of the AU members mention here- passengers were lining up for the Acela at the end of the platform and one lady with no luggage at all went to the front of the line, handed over a few dollar bills to a Redcap, he moved the barrier and let her in into the train first before the line. Isn't this sheer bribery and cheating? I agree people with luggage and physical problem with general boarding should be allowed to pre-board if they avail Redcap services, but allowing a person to jump the queue and board first fits the definition of "bribe" in my opinion. Just because you have extra money to shell out, that should not give you privilege to abuse the system. I wouldn't mind if Amtrak had an official pre-boarding policy with extra charge like the airlines do, but here the money isn't going to Amtrak through official channels, you are just bribing a redcap to get things done your way. Does no one feel this is unethical?
- My hopes of seeing 150 mph run were dashed. Waste of money. We never touched 150 mph between Boston and Providence. The stretch where it was supposed to hit 150 was crawled at 30 to 50 mph thanks to a MBTA commuter train that was sent just ahead of the Acela and kept slowing us behind it. This is a prime example why high speed rail should run on dedicated infrastructure and not mixed with slow traffic.
- The positives- I was blown away by the acceleration capability of the Acela. The way we started off from Back Bay and hit 80 mph from 0 in no time was amazing. Also the tilt on curves feels, well, for lack of a better word, fascinating to a first time rider. Cool stuff.
- Even on a Sunday afternoon the Acela had very nice occupancy, almost 80% full. I can imagine on weekdays it runs 100% full?
PS: To be fair, we did hit a top speed of 148 mph (236 km/hr for me comfortable with metric system) for a few seconds in one brief sprint before slowing down to 100 mph again. Recorded the event on photo for posterity.