Amtrak’s New Acela Trains Are Here. They’re Moving Slower Than the Old Ones. - WSJ

Slower than the older Acela? An absolute disgrace of American public infrastructure.

The NextGen Acela can reach a top speed of 160 miles an hour, according to its manufacturer. That is 10 mph faster than the older Acela fleet. But because of Amtrak’s old infrastructure, the new trains can only travel at top speed during certain portions of the journey. Amtrak previously has said the new trains could potentially shave 20 minutes off the travel time between New York City and Washington, D.C., reducing the duration to around 2½ hours.