Amtrak to restore much of Acela Express train service following

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak's high-speed Acela Express is returning to service sooner than planned, with nine trains set to run on Monday, the railroad said.

The trains, which can reach speeds of 150 mph, will make 30 departures from Washington, New York and Boston, compared with 50 on a normal day.

Amtrak initially said none of the high-speed trains would return to service until Tuesday at the earliest, but repair work is progressing ahead of schedule.

As a result, the railroad said Sunday, there will be 17 departures between Washington and New York, compared with 32 on a regular day, and 13 between New York and Boston, compared with 18 normally.

Cracks discovered

All 18 of trains were sidelined most of last week after inspectors found cracks in shock-absorbing assemblies beneath many of the locomotives.

Amtrak typically sends 15 Acela Express trains into service each day, keeping three in reserve.

The passenger railroad put two of the trains back into service over the weekend. But Amtrak opted not to list the trains in its official schedule during the weekend, so some riders expecting conventional trains -- and paying conventional ticket prices -- got some good news at the station platform.

"If you're a passenger, you're pleasantly surprised that you paid for a regional train ticket and instead you're on Acela Express," spokesman Bill Schulz said.

Passengers purchasing tickets for the Monday Acela Express trips will pay the higher fares for the service, Schulz said.

The repair work is being done on heavy stainless-steel brackets that attach shock-absorbing yaw dampers to the locomotives, preventing them from swaying at high speeds.

Cracks and breaks were found on many of the yaw damper assemblies. Some are being repaired, while others are being replaced.

These temporary repairs are designed to get the trains back into service. Permanent repairs could then be done gradually, without canceling service.

Even before the cracking problem was discovered this week, Amtrak said the Acela Express trains would need to be pulled out of service for repairs and modifications by their builders, Bombardier of North America and Alstom Ltd. of France.

Amtrak canceled all Acela Express runs last Tuesday, put two of the trains back in service Wednesday, but then pulled all the trains again after additional cracks were found Thursday.

It also sidelined 15 locomotives that pull conventional trains in the Northeast after finding similar cracks. Schulz said Amtrak is concentrating on repairing the Acela Express trains first before turning to the conventional locomotives.

Amtrak President David Gunn said the experience shows why Amtrak should go with established technology rather than new designs, such as Acela Express, when it seeks to buy additional high-speed trains.

He said the U.S. government should make it easier for Amtrak to buy trains designed in Europe and used there.

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