A few recent news bits about trains in the DC area:
- Last week, there was a fatal Amtrak derailment outside of DC (Kensington, MD). Cause? Overheated rails kinked, causing the train to roll over.
- Yesterday, MARC trains from DC to Baltimore were
cancelled. Cause? It was rather hot, so it could have been a safety measure to slow down or stop trains to prevent another accident. The real cause? A printer broke down in Florida, so the MARC commuter trains never got the instructions to leave leave Washington and travel onto the Freight rail tracks.
- Today, Amtrak announced that Acela trains aren't living up to their expectations. Why?
- Braking systems that freeze up
- Toilet doors that lock up (with passengers stuck inside)
- The worst on-time performance in the North East Corridor
- One cancellation or breakdown per day on average last month
The problems are so bad that Amtrak is saying they won't buy another Acela train, and may convert some scheduled Acela trains to Metroliners (the reliable, "Express" service that's much cheaper than Acela, and uses 30-year old equipment). Amtrak is even talking about evaluating European high-speed trains that actually work. Funny thing is, that's the same process Amtrak used 10 years ago before it chose the Acela...
Might be time for me to get that Driver's License...
