Train of the Week

Three months ago, Amtrak released this video after signing a new deal to purchase the next-generation Acela Express from our old friend Alstom. It is called the Avelia Liberty. At the minute mark, it states that this train shares a common platform that has been proven in service. Hold on a minute, what common platform? Revenue service? What's an Avelia? Yes, that was a long-winded way of getting into today's topic, and let me do the Googling, so you don't have to (if you have not already, that is). According to Alstom's product web page, all of their current high-speed trains are now branded Avelia. This includes the Pendolino, the TGV Euroduplex, the AGV, and of course, our Avelia Liberty. What I find interesting, is the fact that this family name has yet to be mentioned much or marketed heavily at all. In fact, I don't think it is that good of an idea. Alstom's high-speed trains ranges are already very well known worldwide, so why cause confusion? This...

Although it is still premature to pop the champagne on the Brightline High Speed Rail between Orlando and Miami, this week marks a milestone in the history of this much-anticipated rail service. The first fully assembled trainset (two Siemens Charger locomotives plus four intermediate cars) has arrived in South Florida, after a special transcontinental delivery from its birthplace of Sacramento, California. With the year 2017 looming around the corner, we can almost hear the "all aboard" call from Brightline's Phase One opening between Miami and West Palm Beach (Click here for more from the Railway Gazette). The second phase of the service, covering the rest of its length to Orlando, however, wanders in limbo. Once promised the funding of this rail service, the Government had pulled the rug from underneath. In the meantime, please enjoy these early footages of what I shall call the "Brightliner," and feel free to explore more about this project o...

I suppose I've probably confused a lot of followers by this, that's on me, and my apologies. So the blog part of this blog is back on Blogger! From now on, my hopefully-still-mostly-weekly original content will be posted here. My Tumblr , where I also post my Instagram train pics, and Facebook Page are here to stay, and I'm gonna put them to use in what they are better at—content sharing from all over the web. So please check them out!

4 AM. Excited and foggy at the same time, I crawled out of bed. The instant coffee from the hotel would do. Dressed in clothes warmer than I usually would, in anticipation of beautiful snowy mountains, I marched towards the S-Bahn station in the empty streets of Vienna. A slight hesitation saw to it that the suburban train left me behind. But what was to come, was better than I could have hoped for. A shiny Siemens Desiro came to a stop. As I stepped inside, I was greeted by that new train smell, still lingering in the air. The clock had just ticked past the quarter hour mark past five, but Wien Hauptbahnhof was already a bustling place. Following the signage, I ascended onto the mainline platforms, where my Zürich bound Railjet stood. This was my first time onboard one. The interior was simple but functional, indeed, a very clean and modern design. At 5:30 sharp, the train effortlessly pulled out of the station. Unlike most people, who traveled one station far, I was on thi...