WASHINGTON — A wire service reports that Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express is returning to service sooner than planned, with nine trains scheduled to run on Monday, the railroad said today.
The trains, which can reach speeds of 150 miles an hour, will make 30 departures from Washington, New York and Boston, compared with 50 on a normal day.
Amtrak had initially said none of the high-speed trains would return to service until Tuesday at the earliest, but today the railroad said that repair work had gone more quickly than expected.
As a result, Amtrak planned 17 Acela runs between Washington and New York on Monday, compared with 32 on a regular day, and 13 between New York and Boston, compared with 18 normally.
All 18 of the trains were taken out of service for most of last week after inspectors found cracks in shock-absorbing assemblies beneath many of the locomotives. Amtrak typically sends 15 Acela Express trains into service each day, keeping three in reserve.
The passenger railroad put two of the trains back into service over the weekend, but did not list them in its official schedule.
The repair work is being done on heavy stainless-steel brackets that attach shock-absorbing yaw dampers to the locomotives, preventing them from swaying at high speeds.
Cracks and breaks were found on many of the yaw damper assemblies. Some are being repaired and others are being replaced.
The temporary repairs are intended to get the trains back into service. Permanent repairs would then be done gradually, without canceling service.