Amtrak's new high-speed trains have been delayed again because the tracks they're supposed to run on are too old and busted

Part of the normal running cost of any railway is track maintenance and obviously this must be done long before a new tyrainset arrives.  The hold up is gettting the funding from government as i am sure those same politicians will not allow higher tolls until we have better service.  It never ends.

Yet we are getting to slowly but surely better track and better service.  I have seen it evolve in Vancouver on a step by step basis working its way thorogh the historic right of ways.  At least today, nothing spews coal dust.  We even cover the coal cars now.

however we will see screed every few years about rusty rails while someone howls for money.  It is easy to contract fro a trainset to be delivered long after the next election.  Not so easy to change out track today.

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Amtrak's new high-speed trains have been delayed again because the tracks they're supposed to run on are too old and busted

Story by htowey@insider.com (Hannah Towey) • Thursday

The 28 new Acela trains will have nearly 25% more seats than their predecessor and operate at top speeds of 160 mph. The current fleet operates at top speeds of 150 mph. Amtrak© Amtrak

The debut of Amtrak's new high-speed trains has been delayed for a third year in a row to 2024.

It's due to complications passing federal safety checks on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak said.

The Amtrak tracks between Boston and Washington are notoriously run down.

The rollout of Amtrak's next-generation Acela trains has been frustratingly slow.

The high-speed fleet's highly-anticipated debut, originally scheduled for Spring 2021, has been delayed again, this time to 2024, due to complications passing federal safety benchmarks, Amtrak said.

"We want our customers to experience these new trainsets as soon as possible, but Amtrak cannot operate them for passenger service until Alstom has completed testing and meet all safety requirements," an Amtrak spokesperson told Insider.

The trains' manufacturer, Alstom, says the culprit isn't the trains themselves, but rather the tracks they're supposed to run on.

"The modeling of the wheel to track interface is particularly complex due to age, condition, and specific characteristics of Amtrak infrastructure on the Northeast corridor, and especially the existing tracks," an Alstom spokesperson told Insider.

The trainsets were previously delayed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 and again in 2022.

Amtrak© Amtrak

The new Acela cars are the first trainsets subject to the Federal Railroad Administration's Tier III regulations, a set of safety standards for high-speed trains implemented in 2019, Alstom said. In order to meet the FRA's new requirements, the train manufacturer has been "conducting extensive investigations to ensure that the trains will operate safely in all conditions" and working with the FRA and Amtrak to pass safety benchmarks through modeling, simulation, and testing activities, they added.

Take a look at North America's first hydrogen-powered train, which emits only water and will start service this summer

Running from June to October in Quebec, the Coradia iLint will be North America's first hydrogen train.

The train, developed by Alstom, first entered commercial operations in Germany in 2018.

It can be a greener alternative to diesel on non-electrified train tracks — over 90% of tracks in North America.

North America will have its very first hydrogen-powered train this summer season.

Alstom, a French rail transportation company, announced earlier this year that it's shipping one of its new hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint trains to Quebec for a summer demonstration.

The train will be operated by rail service Train De Charlevoix, and people traveling on the picturesque route along the St. Lawrence River will be able to get an innovative, hydrogen-fueled ride starting June 9.

The hydrogen train runs thanks to fuel cells — battery-like systems that don't require recharging — which produce electrical energy from the hydrogen in the train's tanks. Hydrogen produces heat and electricity when combined with oxygen, and the whole thing only emits water vapor and condensed water as an emission.

Alstom first started running two of its bright blue Coradia iLint trains in Europe in 2018, and it has delivered 41 more since then. They are considered the first hydrogen-powered trains in the world.

Take a look at the Coradia iLint train:See More

Amtrak's three-year delay in beginning service with the new Acela trains underscores the central challenge facing the United States as it attempts to adopt higher-speed rail systems that have operated throughout Europe and Asia for years: Making sure next-generation transportation can safely operate on dated infrastructure systems.

The Amtrak tracks between Boston and Washington, a high-traffic section known as the Northeast corridor, are notoriously rundown — with some tracks dating back 150 years. The route's chokepoints have been a key talking point for railroad officials and politicians working to improve service in the densely populated region.