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Sat Apr 16 04:56:26 PDT 2005

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 Amtrak Suspends Acela  Service

 By Mike Musgrove

  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.

 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.

 David Slack, a spokesman for Bombardier, said that the parts are specially made for the Acela trains and that he did not know how long it would take to replace them.

 Acela was launched in 2000 as a faster and more luxurious alternative to Amtrak's other two levels of service, Metroliner and regional trains. Acela trains make the trip from Washington to New York City in two hours and 48 minutes; regional trains take more than three hours. Amtrak normally operates 15 Acela Express round trips between New York and Washington and 11 between New York and Boston on weekdays. 

 For the cash-strapped railroad, the pricier Acela tickets held the promise of boosting revenue by attracting business travelers. A typical one-way fare on Acela from Washington to New York costs $157, compared with $76 for regional service trains.

 The trains have had numerous mechanical problems since the service's debut. Amtrak shut down the line in 2002 as the railroad fixed cracked brackets on the undercarriage of Acela cars.

 Jim Moore, an expert in urban transportation systems at the University of Southern California, said yesterday that Acela's technical problems can be attributed to the odd marriage of its high-tech trains with older track that was not designed for high-speed operations. 

 Moore said that the maximum speed of the Acela trains exceeds the capacity of the rails they run on. "The right of way doesn't really permit high-speed Acela trains to operate at its highest speed," Moore said. 

 Amtrak and Bombardier have been in legal battles since 2001, when Bombardier filed a $200 million lawsuit claiming that Amtrak had refused to pay for cost overruns caused by the railroad company's own indecision. Amtrak filed a $200 million countersuit almost exactly a year later, claiming that trains from Bombardier had been delivered years late. Amtrak and Bombardier signed a settlement agreement in March 2004. 

 After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Amtrak enjoyed a boost in ridership, but the mechanical problems experienced in 2002 drove many travelers away. 

 Yesterday, airlines did not report any major changes in bookings in cities served by Acela. Delta Air Lines Inc. spokeswoman Benet Wilson said the airline had a "slight uptick" in last-minute reservations for the shuttle between New York and Washington. But she added that the airline could not determine if that was due to the Acela shutdown. US Airways Group Inc. said it did not have any "noticeable surges" in bookings on its shuttle flights. 

 Roy Baranello, a Philadelphia businessman, pulled out of meetings earlier than he had planned yesterday afternoon to catch a regional train home.

 "At first, I was surprised," he said of the Acela brake problem. "My next thought was, 'Gee, am I going to be able to get home tonight?' "

 It was an open question for Baranello as he waited near the end of the line for a 5:10 train at Union Station. He had an Acela reservation, but he was unable to get a reserved seat on a regional train.

 "Now I'm waiting to see if there's a space for me," he said.

 Staff writers Keith L. Alexander and Sara Kehaulani Goo contributed to this report.

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