Amtrak was running 13 of 28 NextGen Acela trainsets by July, with 32 weekday trips against 26 Acela trips before launch, but its inspector general found the tilting system unused.

NextGen Acela trainset beside a station platform
A NextGen Acela trainset beside a station platform. Photo: Amtrak.

The Alstom-built fleet entered service in late August 2025 with five trainsets, and Amtrak plans to introduce all 28 by 2027. Each new trainset seats 386 passengers, compared with 304 on the 20 legacy Acela trainsets it is replacing, a gain Amtrak puts at 27% per train. The older fleet, in service since December 2000, averaged about 26 years of age as of June 2026.

Trips and ridership on the new fleet

Amtrak gave the trainset and trip figures in a July 6 update, which set the new schedule against the 26 weekday Acela trips Amtrak ran before the fleet was introduced. The company said it would keep adding Acela service in the following months as further trainsets join the fleet. On May 22, it had marked one million customer trips on NextGen Acela.

For passengers, the new trains still cover only selected departures, which carry a NextGen tag at booking. Amtrak’s NextGen Acela page also warns that another type of equipment may be substituted without prior notice.

What the inspector general found on tilt and speed

In a report dated July 16 and published on July 20, Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said the company has not been using its signature tilting system meant to shorten journeys and improve comfort. As a result, the trainsets are not reaching the higher speeds and shorter trip times written into the contract, the OIG added. The Federal Railroad Administration has cleared the new trains for up to 160 mph, compared with 150 mph for the legacy fleet. Amtrak’s own web page for the train still presents tilt as the reason for a smoother, quieter ride at that speed.

The OIG also listed quality problems since the fleet entered service. They range from malfunctioning and sometimes unusable bathrooms and faulty customer communication systems to faults in traction motors, train control systems and exterior doors. The mechanical faults have caused chronic delays en route and left some trainsets sidelined for long stretches. At least twice, a loose side panel touched the third rail. One of those incidents started a fire in the East River Tunnels near New York Penn Station on May 14, 2026. Amtrak is pressing the manufacturer for fixes, the report said.

NextGen Acela trainset beneath illuminated bridge arches at night
A NextGen Acela trainset beneath illuminated bridge arches at night. Photo: Amtrak.

Why the fleet arrived four years late

Amtrak signed the contract in 2016 and first planned to start revenue service in May 2021. The OIG traced the four-year slip mainly to the manufacturer starting production before it had validated the computer model that federal safety certification relies on. The delay forced Amtrak to keep running its aging legacy trainsets, which added costs and cut reliability and frequency on the older fleet, the report said. By the OIG’s estimate, the NextGen Acela purchase is worth about $1.5 billion.

Separately, the report said Amtrak had not fully enforced the quality metrics in its contract in order to receive the new trainsets sooner, an approach the OIG described as contrary to industry standards.

NextGen Acela: planned and actual milestones, 2015–2027
Date Milestone Source
2015 Amtrak updates its business case for new high-speed trainsets OIG
2016 Contract signed with the trainset manufacturer OIG
May 2021 Original target date for revenue service OIG
August 2025 Revenue service starts with five trainsets Amtrak
May 22, 2026 One million customer trips on NextGen Acela Amtrak
July 6, 2026 13 trainsets in service, 32 weekday trips on the schedule Amtrak
July 16, 2026 OIG report finds the tilting system not in use OIG
2027 All 28 trainsets due in service (plan) Amtrak

Passenger service began more than four years after the May 2021 target. Amtrak still plans to have the full fleet of 28 trainsets in service by 2027.

Sources: Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), report OIG-SP-2026-007 (July 16, 2026) and release of July 20, 2026. Amtrak releases of August 7, 2025, August 27, 2025, May 22, 2026 and July 6, 2026.

Maintenance space for the last four trainsets

Taking the full order into service also depends on maintenance facilities. In 2025, the OIG reported that without added depot capacity, Amtrak expected to operate just the first 24 NextGen Acela trainsets out of 28. It said facility planning had trailed fleet planning by roughly 15 years. As a result, it warned, some incoming trains might have to be stored intermittently, possibly delaying the extra revenue they are meant to bring.