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| PHOTOS: NEXT GEN (1650879) | |||
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PHOTOS: NEXT GEN |
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Posted by Jersey Mike on Sun Sep 27 21:07:16 2026 In August 2025 Amtrak's Next Generation Acela equipment entered service after years of delays due to both the pandemic and disputes with Alstom. Although I caught one of the new trains on its first day of service, it was not until late October that I finally had the opportunity to ride one and actually confirm or disconfirm the many criticisms that had been circulating online. Also included in this set are photos of equipment in the Penn Coach Yard prior to departure as well as stuff encountered on the lead-in and lead-out of the trip.  On the way out to 30th St station I was lucky enough to catch a southbound NNJT Atlantic City Rail Line train heading through the Haddonfield Trench with GP40PH-2B #4216.  My PATCO ride for that day was provided by rebuilt car #1083.  For years Amtrak's Penn Coach Yards at 30th St station Philadelphia have been largely devoid of coaches or other passenger equipment. The Acela Next Gen saga changed this as delivered-but-not-accepted trainsets slowly filled the yard after being constructed by Alstom Hornell, NY. On this day in 2025, four sets were hanging out in the yard, Set 9, Set 10, Set 24 and an unidentified set whose numbers were not visible. Note that the sets were not delivered in order of their dispatch numbers and set 9 still has yet to enter service. Also in the yard was the first of the new Siemens Cascade Service trains making use of Charger locomotives and Venture coaches as well as three HHP-0 "Cabbage" conversions. .  The HHP-0 (or HHP-C depending on who you ask) cab car conversion project seems to have become just as fraught as the HHP-8 class of locomotives they were based on. After being withdrawn after barely 15 years of an expected 40 year life expectancy, the HHP-8's had to first clear a 20 year lease-back arrangement before Amtrak was free to acquire them outright.  To remedy some of the HHP-8's ride quality issues, Amtrak embarked on a cab car conversion project that likely involved removing weighty propulsion elements like motors and transformers. Originally planned to be used on the Ethan Allen express in 2022, the project was nearly 4 years late by this point. Numbers 9750, 9751 and 9752 were in the yard that day in the new Phase VII livery.  The lead example of the new Amtrak Cascades service train was also in the yard for high speed testing on the Northeast Corridor. Despite WSDoT owning 9 SC-44 Chargers to power its existing trains, the 8 new sets come with the new ALC-42E locomotives as the SC-44's are likely in need of overhaul. #70000` (later renumbered #7001) was paired with cab car #79501.   As mentioned before 4 Next Gen Acela sets were in the yard awaiting various levels of modification or fitting out. Three NG sets had been accepted by August 2025 to allow for the start of revenue service with a pair of BOS-WAS round trips, but by October 2025 7 sets had been accepted. Penn Coach Yard was doing more than just storing the delivered NG trains as some amount of interior fitting out, like the cafe equipment, was also being performed.   After the unsustainable costs involved with getting the Government of Canada to pay for a bespoke high speed train design, Amtrak was forced to procure an off the shelf European spec product. The winner was Alstom's Avelia Horizon platform that was planned to replace the TGV Atlantique, Duplex and Reseau fleet. Off the shelf is somewhat misleading however as Amtrak's 28 lightly localized trains were constructed and delivered before SNCF's planned service entry date of 2026. Power cars like #2151 seen here develop only 4700hp compared with the Classic Acela's 6000hp.  Sitting in the Race St engine terminal were GP38H-3 #523, GP38-3 #729 and #742, ACS-86 #650 and #646 and P42DC #112 and #129. Phase 3 heritage painted P42DC #145 was off by itself by the fuel tanks.   I was booked on train #2153 using Next Gen Set #14 lead by power car #2141. I also did not appear to be the only one taking photos of the new rolling stock.  I might as well comment on the seats, which seem to draw the largest amount of criticism. Yes, the padding was quite firm and there was no recline, however for my short Philly to DC ride the hardness was not an issue and the seat backs were set to what I would call my default level of recline as opposed to being straight up and down like the older seats would default to. The new cars also had much more space above one's head which is likely to reduce the common Acela issue of hitting one's head on the luggage rack.   Luggage capacity was the other major complaint. The increased headroom has shrunk the overhead racks to just barely the height of a standard rolling bag.  The new Acela sets pack 20% more riders into a space only 20' longer than the Classic set by ruthlessly removing non-revenue space like end-of-car luggage storage. While the official baggage space is much less, it seems that sufficient slack space still exists for overflow.    Acela Classic power car #2015 at the Wilmington, DE station platform. It is not uncommon for Acela and Regional trains to meet across the platform at Wilmington.  Amtrak had already started to dispose of the Classic sets with Set #20 visible in the old Chrysler Yard in Newark, DE.  Passing Bayview Yard in Baltimore with NS AC44C6M #4012 and a local set with GP38-3 #5821 and OLS painted GP38-2 #5670.   At the end of its journey #2141 pulled into Washington Union Station track #19 next to Classic power car #2011. I am privileged to be able to get photos of the old and new Acelas side by side like this seeing as how I was far too young to have caught similar photos of Metroliners, GG1's and AEM-7's. Note #2011 seems to be suffering from the standard Acela battle damage.  I'll finish with some bonus photos of DC Metro 3k stock at the Mount Vernon Convention Centre Station.   Well that's the story and review of my first ride on the Next Gen Acela equipment. While the NG equipment could have certainly been better, Amtrak's new pricing strategy gives them far better value for money than the Classic sets offered over the first 20 or so years of their life. If passengers complain enough maybe they can get replacement seats, but with the current demand exceeding supply, I don't see that happening any time soon. |
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