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Travel + Leisure
2 days ago
- Travel + Leisure
Amtrak Just Upgraded First Class on the Popular Acela Service
A first class train ride just got more luxurious. That's because Amtrak is rolling out a new, elevated dining menu for premium passengers on its popular Acela line, according to the company. From charred chicken to a unique take on crab, first class Acela passengers will now have the opportunity to feast on the new menu as they zip across one of the busiest train routes in the United States. 'These elevated touches will add to the experience on board and improve expectations for what to expect on Amtrak and Acela First Class,' Amtrak said in a statement, adding "they reflect a larger commitment to redefining hospitality and positioning Amtrak as the leader in premium service." The new menu, which is now available on all Acela routes, was developed by James Beard award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr whose restaurants are located in New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Florida, and Nashville, and include popular spots like Buddakan, Electric Lemon, Pastis, and The Clock Tower. Each main dish was inspired by one of Starr's famed restaurants, including the Charred Bobo Chicken with acorn squash and aji verde sauce from St. Anselm, the Washington D.C. outpost of the American tavern, as well as the ricotta ravioli with a plum tomato sauce from Philadelphia's Parc. Or feast on the crab enchiladas with coconut, poblano peppers, and corn from Washington D.C.'s El Presidente, served up with a guajillo chili glaze and topped with lime crema and queso fresco. Each meal service is also accompanied by a variety of premium wine and spirits as well as soft drinks. Some of the elevated onboard dining in the Acela First Class cabins. The rail company said it also recently upgraded its tableware and now serves meals with luxury amenities like linen table cloths and a hot towel service. Popular among business and leisure travelers throughout the Northeast Corridor, the Acela line stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C., with several stops along the way, including in New York City and Philadelphia. The train operates as an express service with fewer local stops and higher speeds, allowing passengers to get to their location faster. In addition to the elevated dining, first class passengers on Acela are also treated to other perks, like access to station lounges, including the Metropolitan Lounge at New York's Moynihan Train Hall, which features large glass windows, contemporary flooring, Wi-Fi, and snacks. On board, first class passengers also enjoy more legroom and comfortable seating (complete with adjustable headrests, lumbar support, and footrests).
Miami Herald
01-07-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Miami-Dade says Fla. budget derails funding for commuter train on Brightline tracks
A planned commuter train between Miami and Fort Lauderdale saw its funding plan derailed Monday by Florida's new state budget, which defunds a key source of transit dollars for the $927 million project, according to county officials. If funded, the Northeast Corridor project — also known as the Coastal Link — would bring a version of Tri-Rail commuter trains to the heart of the Miami area's urban corridor, east of Interstate 95. Miami-Dade has been planning stations in Wynwood, Little Haiti, North Miami and other neighborhoods along the route, which would eventually stretch north to Palm Beach County. The rail project had secured $200 million in state funding to match local tax money needed to qualify for a federal transportation grant to cover Miami-Dade's 14-mile portion of the proposed rail line, which would run along existing Brightline tracks. But the dedicated funding source for those rail dollars was all but eliminated in the $115 billion budget package passed on June 17 by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to a summary from Miami-Dade's legislative staff. Late changes to the budget language eliminated a provision in state law reserving some real estate taxes to pay for matching rail grants from the federal government. The change caught transit advocates by surprise and left them hoping for future legislation to plug the funding hole in the only Miami-Dade rail project with a short-term path to crucial federal dollars. 'I find it mystifying that the State legislature would defund a transit project that Miami-Dade's Congressional delegation has made a priority and is included in the President's budget,' Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins said in a statement. Higgins, a candidate for mayor in the city of Miami, chairs the County Commission's Transportation committee and has been the board's main advocate of the Northeast project. 'I will be advocating for a correction to this mistake as the legislature convenes later this year,' she said. Higgins and others are looking to Florida House Speaker Danny Perez, a Miami-Dade Republican, to make sure Miami-Dade has the needed state dollars for the Northeast Corridor project. His tax-cut agenda as the House's most powerful Republican helped shape the budget. In a statement to the Miami Herald, Perez rejected the notion that the Northeast Corridor dollars were actually at risk and warned the DeSantis administration against attempting to cut funding in the Miami area. 'Any suggestion that these reductions would impact significant Miami-Dade projects is purely political,' he said. If the Florida Department of Transportation 'or any other entity attempts to shut down major Miami-Dade projects, the Florida House will consider launching an investigation into abuse of office and political retaliation.' The commuter rail plan in Miami-Dade relies on federal and Florida funding Last summer, the Florida Department of Transportation notified Miami-Dade County that the Northeast Corridor rail project qualified for $200 million in state dollars. Miami-Dade planned to contribute at least another $200 million, with the combined amount enough to meet the matching threshold for federal Department of Transportation dollars. In October, the project got a boost when the Department of Transportation under President Joe Biden approved Miami-Dade for $389 million toward the Northeast Corridor, money requiring congressional approval that's still pending. The 2026 Transportation budget under Trump lists the Northeast Corridor as a project that could receive funding later in the budget year. Business leaders tried to close the deal in Washington earlier this year. In April, a delegation from the Partnership for Miami business group traveled to D.C. to lobby lawmakers on the Northeast Corridor and also met with Trump's transportation secretary, Sean Duffy. Then, just days before the June 17 budget vote in Tallahassee, county transportation planners learned of the language they say puts the Northeast Corridor budget at risk. To reduce state spending, the new Florida budget ends a rule reserving some dollars raised in real estate transactions — known as 'documentary' or 'doc' stamp taxes — for matching transit grants. Instead of reserving about $40 million to $50 million yearly for federally funded rail projects, the real estate dollars will instead go into Florida's general spending bucket to compensate for lost revenue from the legislature's new tax cuts. 'There was unfortunately very little time to react,' Jess McCarty, the assistant county attorney who is Miami-Dade's main lobbyist in Tallahassee, wrote in a June 24 email to a county staffer. The lost matching money for federal rail projects came on top of another cutback in the state budget for transit funding in Miami-Dade. As part of more than $1 billion in tax cuts, the new budget includes a provision backed by Perez that eliminates a 2% sales tax that businesses pay when leasing commercial space. By eliminating that tax statewide, the Florida budget also wipes out a small but notable portion of two voter-approved sales taxes that are only charged in Miami-Dade. One is a half-percent sales tax to fund transportation projects. The other is a half-percent sales tax to fund Jackson Health, Miami-Dade's public hospital. By exempting commercial leases from those taxes, the Florida budget is expected to cut tax revenue by about $27 million each for Miami-Dade transportation projects and for Jackson, according to a summary provided by the Florida Association of Counties. A $27 million cut amounts to about an 8% revenue reduction for both, according to county estimates. While the elimination of the commercial lease tax is final, Higgins and others who have been pushing for the Northeast Corridor rail project hope Perez will help Miami-Dade find other matching dollars when the Florida Legislature reconvenes at the end of 2025. Privately, multiple people involved in the talks say Perez has said he's ready to try to replace any dollars that the budget may have taken away from the Miami rail project. 'I presume the elimination was inadvertent,' Higgins said in her statement.
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Cost And Benefits Of Privatizing Amtrak
Elon Musk's call to privatize Amtrak should surprise no one. He owns a car company, has recommended that tourists from abroad not ride passenger rail in the U.S., and according to his biographer 'the idea (for the Hyperloop) originated out of his hatred for California's proposed high-speed rail system,' which he viewed as too costly and too slow. But supporters of passenger rail in the U.S. should not dismiss the notion of redefining Amtrak's role in running our nation's intercity rail network, including privatizing some of its operational responsibilities. Rather, they should use this moment as an opportunity to debate the best way to leverage private investment in passenger rail. NEW YORK - APRIL 2: An Amtrak passenger waits for his train at Penn Station April 2, 2004 in New ... More York City. (Photo by) Born out of necessity, Amtrak was never intended to be the long-term solution to providing passenger rail in the U.S. The collapse of privately-owned and operated passenger rail in the 1960s led to the government corporation's creation in 1971. Amtrak's operations greatly expanded in the mid-1970s when it took over the Northeast Corridor (NEC), which accounts for over a third of its passengers and is operationally a money maker. Since then, Congress has been fairly divided about Amtrak's vision. Many Democrats support more government funding of Amtrak while large swaths of Republicans have called for the public corporation's dismantling and the sale of the NEC to private interests. Partly as a result of this partisan divide, Amtrak has been unable to access a stable source of funding to invest in its rail infrastructure, leaving it with billions in deferred maintenance and little money for investments in high-speed rail. But would the sale of Amtrak to private investors result in a world class intercity passenger rail system? Not likely. No country in the world has a first-class passenger rail system that is completely private. And history has shown (including that of the United States), that most private passenger rails systems (as well as many privately owned airlines), are eventually bailed out by taxpayers. Why? Because transportation systems require a massive amount of capital investment, maintenance costs rise significantly over time, and profit margins are tight. For this reason, transportation infrastructure is usually owned and its maintenance subsidized by the public sector. In the U.S. for example, construction of the Interstate Highway System was financed by the federal government, and most commercial airports are publicly owned by state and local governments (or public authorities), and receive support at the federal level from grants and tax-exempt bonds. However, unlike countries in Europe and Asia, most railway tracks and train stations are typically owned by freight railroads, not the government. The major exception is the Northeast Corridor, along with some of the rail network around Chicago and parts of California. Interestingly, these rail corridors are by far the most popular in Amtrak's network. Although total privatization of Amtrak should be off the table, partnerships with the private sector should not. This could include allowing private passenger train operators to run trains on publicly-owned track and allowing Amtrak to invest in privately built and operated high-speed rail corridors. Working with the private sector could dramatically improve service, infrastructure, and the ridership experience when combined with government investment (more on that later). For example, several European countries have begun to privatize some of their rail operations in order to create more competition, meet growing demand, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Partly in response to the European Union's (EU) 2016 Fourth Rail Package, private operators are now competing with state-owned rail operators in Spain (the world's second largest high-speed rail system), France, and Germany. And several companies are looking to compete with Eurostar by beginning to offer cross-channel service in the near future. In the U.S., Brightline, a private rail operator that made its start as All Aboard Florida, now offers fast rail service from Miami to Orlando. Brightline ridership has grown to over 2 million passengers a year, and it is expanding its 125 mph service to Tampa. The company has also begun construction of a true high-speed rail corridor (200 mph) from Las Vegas to the outskirts of Los Angeles. The construction of the line will take place along interstate 15 and is jointly funded by the federal government ($3 billion) and private investors ($2.5 billion). Its Las Vegas to Los Angeles corridor will be completed before California's HSR project, and at a much cheaper rate per mile. But the key to a successful, vibrant passenger rail partnership will require public investment. Since the early 2000s, China's government has invested $1.5 trillion to create the largest high speed rail system in the world. While it is unlikely that the U.S. will match that figure anytime soon, establishing a steady source of funding for passenger rail would allow Amtrak to invest in other privately led ventures, such as the Texas Central Rail initiative. One source of funds is already in place – the $35 billion Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Fund (RRIF). This program is already paid for, so it isn't new spending. But these funds are rarely used for passenger rail. Congress should make the loan program explicitly available for high-speed rail projects. Another source of funding for rail infrastructure could come from the leasing of operating rights to the Northeast Corridor and other popular routes. Ultimately however, Congress will need to provide a steady source of money for projects, much as it does for highways and airlines. Hopefully the involvement of the private sector in partnership with Amtrak will find support from enough Democrats and Republicans to make this happen. And who knows, maybe Elon Musk and Tesla will decide to build electric trains.
