First Turboliner Rebuild Set To Begin Service Soon

[Viewliner]

According to trains newswire the first Turboliner Rebuild May begin running in Revenue service by the end of the month, they make it sound like the Turboliner II will continue running as the RTL III will replace an Amfleet set, and subsequent turbos will be added to schedule of the busy Empire Corridor.

A second set should enter service sometime this winter, Carlson said, with a third and fourth set expected to carry their first passengers in the spring. Sets five though seven aren’t expected to be completed until late 2003.

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[Amfleet]

One step closer to "high-speed" rail outside of the BOS-WAS corridor. Thanks for the link Viewliner.

 

[gswager]

I'm wondering what are Amtrak going to do with Amfleet trains which will be being replaced by Turboliner?

 

[AlanB]

While some of the Amfleet cars may be returned to the general pool of cars, the Turboliner's won't free up that many Amfleets. The idea is that the Turboliner's will be used to increase service on the Empire Corridor, and not so much as to replace existing trains.

 

[Superliner Diner]

The idea is that the Turboliner's will be used to increase service on the Empire Corridor, and not so much as to replace existing trains.

In essence, the Turboliner (once the fleet is fully deployed) will be the Empire Corridor's answer to the Acela Express -- a higher-speed, most likely premium service. No, it won't achieve the 150-mph possible on 11 miles of the Northeast Corridor in Rhode Island & Massachusetts, but it will be capable of 125 mph, enough to shorten New York-Albany run times by 1/2 hour. And like the Acela Express, the Turboliner has to contend with Metro North trackage and ownership (and thus speed restrictions) over a portion of the route. Thus conventional trains will continue, although perhaps not as many since some of the present customers will no doubt switch to the faster Turboliners once there is a choice of departure times throughout the day.

Sets five though seven aren’t expected to be completed until late 2003.

Set 7 is the existing RTL-II Turbo that has been running all along, albeit with help recently from diesels. The last I read, it won't be pulled from service until the first two RTL-III Turbo trains are in revenue service. I doubt therefore that it will be totally refurbished by the end of 2003, given the time it has taken to get the other rebuilds back in service.

 

[Amfleet]

VIA Rail Canada can make a Montreal - Toronto run in less time than it takes the Acela to get from Boston to Philadelphia, plus VIA is using deisel power that can reach a top speed of only 110 mph!!!