Amfleet said:
Frankly, I wouldn't cry over a 10 minute delay per run. Also don't compare Acela to the airlines, because they are not the same. US Air has already cut there Shuttle flights and with the airlines you must purchase tickets a week in advance or else you'll be paying about $800 round trip, per person. Also where are the stats for Regional trains, they too take up quite a bit of the Northeast Corridor market.
The fact is Acela may take a few hours longer than a shuttle flight, but it gets you downtown to downtown, the ride is more relaxing, and the cost is quite a bit less at about $200 round trip.
Not to belabor the point, but Acela very definitely is in competition with the air shuttles, and between Boston and New York it is a battle Acela is losing. A couple of points:
1. Comfort: Acela wins here without a doubt.
2. Time: Most business travelers would rather spend 1 hour on a plane than nearly 4 hours on a train no matter what the comparative comfort level. Look at it this way. You live in the Boston Area, and have a 10a to 2p meeting in Manhattan. To make that meeting, you can catch the 7am shuttle at Logan, get to LGA at 8, cab to Manhattan easily in time for the 10a start. Heading home you catch a cab a 2p, get the 3:30p shuttle, you’re back at Logan at 4:30p. For Acela, you need to catch the 5:15a at South Station to get to Penn at 8:45 (maybe) and a cab to the 10a meeting. If Acela were reliable, you might chance the 6:15a departure, but considering the poor on-time performance, the 5:15 is the better bet. Leave at 2p, hopefully catch the 3:03p return, getting to South Station at 6:29p (maybe). Acela costs you an extra 4 hours.
3. Convenience: The often-cited “downtown to downtown” advantage of the train is way overplayed. On one end, it is likely that the traveler is leaving from home, and it is likely that home is not downtown. Using my own situation, I can get from home (Cherry Hill, NJ) to Philadelphia International easier than I can get to 30th Street Station. For many in the Boston area, Logan may be more convenient than South Station.
4. Schedule: Amtrak has 10 trains each weekday, with 2 hour frequency between trains during the mid-day. The last train leaves Boston at 5:15p, and New York at 7p. Between US Airways (15 flights) and Delta (16 flights), the shuttles have flights every 30 minutes from 6a to 9p each way. That is not counting the American Eagle service. Using the air shuttles, you can even have an early dinner with a client in New York and still get home that evening. With Acela that is not possible.
5. Cost: The fare differential is not as great as you think. The round trip, unrestricted “walk-up” fare for the air shuttles is $446 verses $198 for Acela. However, various discounts for advance purchase, or bulk purchase can significantly reduce the airfare. For example, if you can buy a Shuttle Smart Pack which offers four unrestricted, walk-up roundtrips for the price of three ($334.50 round trip). Or you can buy your ticket 7 days in advance, fly at off-times (10a to 2p, after 7p, or weekend), and pay under $200 round trip. Other than the weekend fares, there are no discounts available for Acela.
6. On-time reliability. Absolutely no contest. The air shuttles are regularly posting 90% on-time rates, and Acela rarely hits even 70%. Second only to the inability to run Boston to New York in under three hours, this to me has been the biggest disappointment in the Acela operation. Amtrak just can’t run that service on-time.
4. Regional trains: The Regional service to too slow to be a player in the business travel market. The Regionals are not a factor.
This is not to say that Acela isn’t a nice ride. It is. But the fact is that it is too slow, too unreliable, and runs too infrequently to effectively compete with the air shuttles in the Boston - New York market.