Amtrak resumes limited Acela service

Monday, July 11th 2005, 9:53 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Amtrak resumed limited Acela Express runs Monday morning, the first time the railroad's high-speed fleet has been in operation since it was pulled out of service in April due to cracks found in many of the trains' disc brake rotors.

Two Acela trains are in operation and are outfitted with a new brake design, Amtrak said. The remaining 18 Acela trains will be put back in service once they are equipped with the new brakes, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said.

Montreal-based Bombardier, Inc., which makes the Acela trains, has yet to disclose 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.

The cracks were noticed April 14, when Federal Railroad Administration Safety Specialist Rich Thomas found them while performing a routine inspection after a high-speed run to test whether Amtrak could speed up the Acela trains slightly on curves in New Jersey between Trenton and Newark.