Amtrak to resume Acela service to Boston

Thursday, July 21st 2005, 11:03 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Amtrak will resume Acela Express train service to Boston this weekend for the first time since pulling the high-speed fleet out of operation in April after discovering cracks in many of the trains' brake discs.

Amtrak is slowly putting its 20-fleet Acela trains back into service after the cars are outfitted with new brakes. Amtrak resumed limited Acela service on July 11 from New York to Washington.

An Acela train is slated to arrive in Boston on Saturday afternoon, and will depart the city on Sunday morning. Weekday service will resume on Monday with one roundtrip from Boston to Washington.

The railroad also plans to increase to six the number of Acela trains operating during the week between New York and Washington, starting Monday.

Montreal-based Bombardier, Inc., which makes the trains, has said its target date for equipping the entire Acela fleet with the new brakes, made from a different design, is September. Bombardier is still investigating what caused the millimeter-size cracks in 317 of the Acela's 1,440 disc brake rotors. The cracks were found on all 20 Acela trains.