Amtrak is trying mightily to make sure no one remembers the disastrous width problem of the old Acelas, but sometimes it leaks out. This time, it’s an upgrade to the overhead wire south of Baltimore to allow 150 MPH operation. No track improvements, only a bit of overhead fix. When the new Acelas are all online and ALL the old Acelas are sent to the scrapper, the entire line will move to 150 MPH, which should have happened decades ago. No new roadbed, no massive track relocation. The problem is, the Acelas were supposed to bring in enough money to buy new Superliners. This didn’t happen, so in the interim the coach builders all went broke. No one makes Superliners, and there’s no chance anyone will, but the old cars are on their last legs.
Tony, do you have documentation to support this, or is this your opinion. I'm not questioning you, just researching information to understand AMTRAK's latest business plan, financial status, and budget projections. Thanks. (It's merely a hobby. I don't plan to mount a campaign to upset the Amtrak apple cart.)
Amtrak asked for a waiver for the new Acelas to start going fast right away, but the FRA said they must all be first withdrawn. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/02/25/2015-03763/petition-for-waiver-of-compliance
That was the first time, they were recently re-denied. The good news is that, so far, no one has found a major engineering flaw on the new Acelas.
Here’s a great story about how Acela was “fat”... https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/...ils-savior-bedevils-amtrak-at-every-turn.html