how will the new acelea service compare to flying or driving , from washington / new york / boston . in terms of total transport time , and cost . do you think it will win customers from the airlines ?
Hopefully someone from back east will be able to comment on this. Considering the airlines woes if Amtrak could only get the darn thing up and running they should be able to get all the passengers they can handle.
The Acela will compete timewise with the shuttles. Estimated time between downtown Boston and Downtown New York City is about 3 to 3.5 hours. The air shuttle takes 1 hour flight time, however this does not factor in the rides to and from the airport and weather delays. However Amtrak may be shooting themselves in the foot. Projected fare for the Acela is $269 roundtrip. The shuttle can be as low has $120 roundtrip. We will just have to wait and see the incentives. I would bet Amtrak will lower its prices seeing that it will have to fill 18 Acela trips per day. ------------------ A.J. y6b N&W and Conrail Fan http://communities.msn.com/TheGRRModelRR
