The new "high speed" Acela trains that Amtrak is touting have been mentioned lately in several forum discussions relating to travel between NYC and DC and/or NYC and Boston. Having recently ridden one betwee NYC and Boston I can attest to the comfort level - better than previous Amtrak trains and far better than air travel. The time savings are not all that significant - the non-express Acela between Boston and NYC is only about 25 minutes slower than the express but compared to the standard Amtrak service there is a significant time savings. The same is true if comparing the NYC-DC Metroliner to the new Acela express - savings is only 13 minutes but again, much faster than standard service. Details are in article at this link
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/US/Public_Transportation/

A couple questions if you would please, Owen:

Which class did you travel in? - I believe the new Acela trains have two classes.

How does 2nd class on the new trains compare with Business class on the "old" Acela Regional trains?

Do you know if there is additional track work scheduled that will improve (decrease) the travel time?

Today's Boston Globe provides the details of a "race" by two reporters between New York and Boston via the shuttle and Acela. You can find it on the Globe's web site or at http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/34..._trains+.shtml.

Thanks for the tip, Neal. As someone who's spent a large part of my life on a plane headed to God knows where every Monday morning I can only quote Raphael Lewis - "if that's losing, I'll take it every time".

Thanks Neal for that tidbit on air travel versus train travel...I think even though the correspondent travelling by air arrived in Boston a minute earlier than the correspondent by train...given the air traveller's frustrations, I think it was a pretty good advertisement for Acela.

I go to NYC from Baltimore about half dozen times a year. Since our offices are downtown, coming in on the train is great because you're already there...not that a cab from Laguardia is so dreadful. (And then there are those miles.)If there's still work to do to prepare for a meeting, it's so much more efficient to take the train. Can't wait for my first trip on Acela! Plus Amtrak now will offer frequent passenger miles, too!

In response to Dick's queries - I traveled in 2nd class and it was early October of this year. The train was the Acela Regional. The Express service hadn't started yet - the trains are identical, the difference being some improvements made on the track and some bugs worked out in the train itself (relative to it being able to handle the high speed curves and also some issues regarding premature wheel wear). I didn't have a chance to see the seating in Business Class but the seating in 2nd class was perhaps a tad more spacious than 1st Class airline seats. The train was remarkably smoothe and the fact that it makes fewer stops than standard service makes for much more peaceful trips. My departure from Boston was delayed for one hour due to a mechanical problem. My impression is that this is not a common problem. I can comfortably recommend this service to anyone - what a greta feeling to step off the train, onto the "T" and be at my hotel 10 minutes later!

Owen, I'm pretty sure the Acela Express uses entirely different equipment from the Acela Regional (don't see why they had to confuse us with such similar names), which picked up most of the time when they electrified the track between New Haven and Boston. I've taken the Acela Regional between Boston and Philly several times recently and have been seeing the new trains in the yard outside the 30th St. station in Philly. The news clips I've seen also show that it's an entirely different train with brand new engines and cars.

I've always been in Business Class on the Regional trains (which is somewhat more comfortable than a first-class airline seat) and somewhere got the impression that the Express trains would have a second class equivalent to the old Business and a first class that was better yet.

Has anyone out there (other than the Boston Globe reporters) been on the newest trains?

Anyone have a recent update on service? Thanks.

My brother- and sister-in-law took it over the holidays between NYC and DC and said that while all the kinks aren't out of it yet, the seats were extremely comfortable.