Amtrak, the operator of the U.S.’s passenger train networks, is getting off to a seriously delayed start on two of its new projects, the upgraded and updated Acela high-speed trains and the restoration of service along the Gulf Coast.
The new high-speed trainsets, which run in the Northeast Corridor between Washington, DC, New York and Boston, were due in service in 2021, but delay after delay has pushed back the date. Although nearly half the trains have now been delivered, none are in service because the Amtrak Inspector General says they are not in shape to pass safety or operation tests.
The trains are being built in upstate New York by European train-builder Alstom, which says that all the units it delivered were okayed by Amtrak officials.
The report says that at least some of the issues involve every unit delivered so far. “Some defects are safety related, such as water drainage between cars causing components that hold the cars together to corrode. Others are described as functional. For example, the vendor previously reported that five windows on the trains shattered spontaneously and that the trainsets’ hydraulic tilting systems leaked. A final category of defects deals with aesthetic issues, such as misaligned ceiling panels in the café cars and delamination of their floors.”
Meanwhile, the long-delayed plan to restore passenger service between Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, which has been shut since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, has delays of its own. The scheduled twice-daily service between the cities, funded in part with a large federal infrastructure grant, won’t be ready for service until sometime next year, despite plans to start this year, with completion needed of new stations and platforms.
