(The following article by Matthew L. Wald was posted on the New York Times website on July 11.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak put two of its Acela Express trains back in service on Monday, nearly three months after all 20 were sidelined because of cracked brakes.
Travelers with tickets for the 7 a.m. Metroliners northbound from Washington and southbound from New York were surprised to end up riding the Acelas instead. For now, the high-speed trains are running on the Metroliner schedules – about 10 minutes longer, for a trip of about three hours.
Beginning on Tuesday, Amtrak will charge the usual premium fares for the Acela trips, about $20 more each way. People who have already bought tickets at Metroliner prices, however, can still use them for the Acela at no extra charge, said Cliff Black, a spokesman.
The fare difference and a reduction in train service have cost the railroad about $1 million a week for most of the time since the Acelas were sidelined on April 15.
Four of the Acelas have now been repaired. That is the number that must be available in order to run two of the high-speed trains, Mr. Black said, since one is held in reserve in case of breakdown, and one is typically scheduled for maintenance.
The two Acelas now running will each make a single daily round trip between New York and Washington, but the railroad hopes to add more trains soon, including some that will run from Washington to Boston. The loss of the Acelas did not affect the frequency of service between Washington and New York, but the number of round trip trains running between New York and Boston fell to 12 a day, from 20.
The consortium that built the trains, led by Bombardier Inc., based in Montreal, is replacing the part that cracked, a brake disc, with an older design that uses a thicker and higher-strength piece of steel. The design now being applied was the one originally specified for the Acela, but the brake’s manufacturer, Knorr-Bremse, of Munich, substituted a lighter design before the original parts were built. That substitution was first reported last month by The Wall Street Journal.
Hélène V. Gagnon, a spokeswoman for Bombardier, said on Monday that the substitution’s role in the cracking had still not been established and that Amtrak did not object to the substitution when it was made.
Amtrak bought the Acelas with a performance guarantee. The railroad and Bombardier have delayed discussing a financial settlement until all the trains are back in service, Ms. Gagnon said. The speed of that work, she said, is determined by the rate of manufacture of the new parts in Europe.
The renewal of Acela service coincides with Congressional debate over Amtrak financing in the coming fiscal year. The Bush administration is seeking drastic cuts in the railroad’s subsidies and wants the states to pick up much of the cost, but they are not eager to do so.