- published: 24 Jul 2015
- views: 294727
The Acela Express ( /əˈsɛlə/ ə-SEL-ə; colloquially abbreviated to Acela) is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. It uses tilting technology which allows the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers, by lowering lateral centrifugal forces, based on the concept of banked turns.
Acela Express trains are the only true high-speed trainsets in North America; the highest speed they attain is 150 mph (240 km/h), though their average is less than half that speed. The Acela has become popular with business travelers and by some reckoning has captured over half of the market share of air or train travelers between Washington and New York. Between New York and Boston the Acela Express has up to a 37% share of the combined train and air market.
The Acela carried 3.2 million passengers in fiscal year 2010; the busiest Amtrak route is the somewhat slower Northeast Regional, which had 7.1 million riders in 2010 due to its lower fares and greater number of stops. The Acela Express is one of the few Amtrak lines to operate at a profit; the two train lines generate more than half of Amtrak's total revenue. In 2010, the Acela Express had a total revenue of US$440,119,294, up from $409,251,483 in 2009.
There's a train on a track
Painted silver, blue and black
Heading to Massachusetts
And then it's coming back
And it's entertaining by New Haven
Once you've had yourself a drink or two, ooh ooh
All alone on the Acela
Tell me baby, where the hell are you?
(Acela)
Ooh ooh
(Acela)
There's a girl on the train
Leaning on a window pane
Reading People Magazine
Just to help turn off her brain
And I swear I caught her staring at me
Maybe I've been staring at her too, ooh ooh
Shot to hell on the Acela
Just as well, there's nothing else to do
(Acela)
Ooh ooh
(Acela)
When they called "All aboard"
You were nowhere to be found
Though you swore you were sure
You'd come with me out of town
And I looked in all the stars
I looked in Hudson News
Searched for any sign of you
But you had not left any clues
I was so confused
What was I supposed to do?
Now the world is a blur
And the engine starts to purr
And we're flying through Rhode Island
The conductor calls me
"Sir, for your information it's a station at about 11: 22", ooh ooh
Got to get the next Acela
Got to make my way back home too
Got to get the next Acela
Got to get myself back home to you