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A comment on Amtrak Goes Electric, Drops $466 Million on Siemens Electric Locomotives. Parent comment

Re:Amtrak Goes Electric, Drops $466 Million on Siemens Elect... by high5ths on Sunday October 31, 2010 @02:23AM (#1852632)
The ridiculous thing about the Acela is that it's significantly more expensive than the "normal" train, but only cuts about 40 minutes from the trip. (Checking Amtrak.com showed me ~4:15 for the normal train, 3:36 for the Acela.) When I was commuting twice a week NYC-BOS, I couldn't possibly justify the price difference, especially if you compare it to the $20 Bolt Bus or Greyhound tickets.

Point being: the Acela (IMHO) doesn't qualify as a high-speed train if only because it doesn't "feel" high-speed compared to the other options. Commuting in 3.5 or 4 hours is emotionally irrelevant. Commuting in 1.5 hours would feel remarkably different.

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Re:Amtrak Goes Electric, Drops $466 Million on Siemens Elect... by fragmede on Sunday October 31, 2010 @11:25AM (#1853407)
Actually, the ridiculous thing about the Acela, is that in some cases, it's both cheaper and faster to take a plane. Faster, sure; but cheaper? If I've justified the price of the Acela, why wouldn't I want to take a plane, especially if it's faster.
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