By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON, Dec 22 (Reuters) – U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak’s next-generation high-speed Acela train cars were delayed by more than four years due to planning, design and track issues, and a desire for higher speeds that have not materialized, a Senate report issued late on Monday said.

Amtrak’s $2.3 billion program to replace its high-speed trains along the northeast U.S. corridor lost $287 million in revenue and unplanned maintenance costs because of extended use of the older Acela fleet, said Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, in a report. 

The report said the Biden administration funded purchases of Amtrak cars “to run on tracks that are not yet built” and called that an “irresponsible and quixotic decision.” The Trump administration has rescinded more than $4 billion for California’s long-delayed high-speed rail project, prompting California to file suit.

Amtrak declined immediate comment on the Senate report. The passenger railroad began rolling out the new trainsets in August but those trains are currently on a slower timetable than the prior generation, the Senate report noted.

The report said Amtrak “should prioritize procuring service-proven trainsets and technologies that will allow manufacturers to compete on price, instead of requiring idiosyncratic technical specifications” and argues “shorter and more reliable timetables are the goal, not marginally higher speeds.”

Last month, Amtrak President Roger Harris told Reuters in an interview that the passenger railroad needs to retire the older Acela trains before it can begin raising speeds because the signaling system can’t be optimized for the higher speed until then. He estimated the higher speeds would begin in late 2026.

But Harris noted the speeds would only be marginally faster due to the curvature of some railroad bridges on the Boston to Washington corridor.

In November, Amtrak set a yearly record for ridership and revenue, as it cut losses by 15% to $598 million and aims for operational profitability by 2028. Amtrak plans to replace regional trains starting next year and is now considering new trains for long-distance service.

Congress approved $66 billion in funding for rail projects as part of a massive 2021 infrastructure bill, with $22 billion dedicated to Amtrak.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)

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