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2/14/2020
On Feb. 17, Amtrak is sending the first of its 28 new Acela trainsets to the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, Colorado, for high-speed testing.
The trainset will undergo nine months of dynamic testing, including the train’s pantograph, railway dynamics, tilting, traction, slip/slide and wayside protection brakes, and train control management systems, Amtrak officials said in a press release.
Once testing is complete, the trainset will return to Alstom's facility in Hornell, New York, for installation of its interiors.
Alstom also has completed the assembly of its second trainset, which is expected to travel to Amtrak’s Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia for testing in March. The construction of the third trainset began in November 2019 and is tentatively scheduled to travel to Philadelphia for testing in September.
Amtrak’s Acela trainsets are scheduled to enter service throughout the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in 2021.
The new trains will accommodate nearly 25 percent more riders. To read more about the next-generation Acela, click here.