Amtrak’s new Acela Regional trains attracted more local passengers than expected in their first month of service, according to the national passenger rail agency. The four Acela Regional electric trains plying the rails between Boston and Washington, D.C., picked up or dropped off about 4,880 passengers at Providence Station last month. By comparison, the four diesel trains that Acela Regional service replaced picked up or dropped off about 4,600 passengers in Providence in February 1999.
“We are increasing our ridership. There’s no doubt about it,” Amtrak spokesman Russ Hall said. “People are really getting on these trains and enjoying it. We’re beginning to draw the people from the airlines, and I’m sure as more Acela Regional trains come into service, we’ll have even better ridership.”
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The Acela Regional schedule calls for the speedier electric trains to make the run from Providence to Manhattan in about three hours and 15 minutes. A one-way ticket to Manhattan costs $48.
The debut of Amtrak’s high-speed Acela Express trains has been pushed back from late last year to late spring to at least July after tests revealed premature wear in the train wheels. Amtrak officials have said the overdue Acela Express trains will make the Providence-to-Manhattan run in about two-and-a-half hours. Ticket prices for the high-speed service are expected to be in the neighborhood of $100.
Amtrak counted 2,228 Acela Regional passengers arriving at Providence Station and 2,655 passengers leaving from Providence Station from Jan. 31 to Feb. 29.
A total of more than 43,000 passengers boarded the four Acela Regional trains in February at all the stops along the route between Boston and Washington, which represents a roughly 50-percent jump over typical NortheastDirect ridership during the same period last year.
The electric service continued to struggle to meet its schedule, though
Acela Regional trains arrived at their stops late about 15 percent of the time in February on average. However, Amtrak officials said the service’s on-time performance improved later in the month.
Meanwhile, the airlines that the electric trains are intended to compete against couldn’t beat Acela’s on-time performance in the latest Air Travel Consumer Report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Flights into T.F. Green Airport arrived late 26 percent of the time in January and departed late 20 percent of the time, according to the DOT statistics.
Amtrak hopes to make headway against airline shuttle flights in the Northeast by trumpeting its roomier seats and cheaper fares. Some observers see airlines as vulnerable to the competition amid widespread passenger discontent and a recent round of fare hikes.
And Amtrak last week announced plans to add coaches to its Northeast trains if striking US Airways flight attendants shut down the airline. The flight attendants were at the bargaining table as of press time in an 11th-hour attempt to avert a strike on Saturday.
Amtrak could increase its Northeast carrying capacity by 1,500 seats, primarily by adding passenger coaches to Acela Regional and Metroliner services here. U.S. Airways is the second-largest carrier serving T.F. Green with 32 daily departures including the airline’s regional flights.
