Amtrak suspended its high-speed Acela Express line yesterday, saying that it had found cracks in brake components during routine tests and inspections of cars in the premium-priced train service that connects Boston, New York and Washington.
Cracks were found on about 300 disk-brake rotors out of 1,440 in the 20-train Acela fleet. Amtrak has shut down the service through Wednesday while the railroad assesses the problem.
Passengers at Union Station wait to board an Amtrak train yesterday. Some were displaced Acela riders.
(Haraz Ghanbari -- AP)
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William L. Crosbie, senior vice president of operations at Amtrak, said at a news conference yesterday that it could be months before the entire fleet of Acela trains is returned to service. While the railroad plans to schedule more regional trains and Metroliners, it will not be able to entirely replace the lost capacity from the Acela line, which normally carries 10,000 passengers a day.
"This is going to be a significant, ongoing issue," said Crosbie. "We are very early into this."
Crosbie said the problem could also have a "significant impact" on Amtrak's revenue. Acela trains brought in $297 million in revenue last year. Total Amtrak ticket sales were $1.3 billion, according to the railroad.
The issue comes just as the Bush administration has proposed forcing Amtrak into bankruptcy to prompt an overhaul of the nation's passenger rail service, which has operated in the red for its entire existence. Created by Congress in 1971, Amtrak, known officially as the National Passenger Rail Corp., has lost more than $500 million each year for the past 10 years.
House Republicans and Democrats seemed ready to defy the president's wishes, however, with legislation introduced this week that would continue to fund Amtrak with $2 billion annually over the next three years.
Amtrak president and chief executive David L. Gunn yesterday played down the Acela problem as a new hurdle for Amtrak's ability to get congressional funding.
"We're always under political pressure," he said. The Acela problem is "not a helpful thing," but Gunn added that Amtrak faces "a lot more issues than just Acela."
Crosbie said that the cracks were discovered by mechanics and engineers during inspections performed during routine tests unrelated to the brake disks. After discovering cracks on the rotor disks under some cars, engineers at the railroad inspected the undercarriages of the entire 20-train Acela fleet and decided to shut down the service at around midnight on Thursday, according to an Amtrak spokesman.
The shutdown caused some longer lines than usual at Union Station yesterday, as travelers found out that they would have to downgrade their tickets and take later, regional trains.
Clifton resident Cynthia Capelli, a regular Acela traveler, was on edge at the news that brake problems had been discovered on the Acela line. "I'm shocked," she said. "That's scary."
The Acela trains are built by Bombardier Inc. of Montreal, and the brake parts are still under warranty, though representatives at both Amtrak and Bombardier said yesterday that it is unclear which company will pay for the fix and how long it will take to repair all 20 Acela trains.
Representatives at both companies declined to offer any theories as to what could have caused the cracks, and they would not say whether the problem could have caused a train derailment.
