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- Amtrak launched a new high-speed Acela train in August 2025.
- I rode business class on the old Acela in 2022 and again in 2025 on the new train.
- The NextGen Acela featured a sleek new design, more comfortable seats, and elevated amenities.
The seats were softer, the car was brighter, and the rails felt smoother. I was able to fully appreciate Amtrak’s brand-new Acela train because I’d ridden the old one.
The Amtrak Acela is an express service in the Northeast with only business and first-class seating. I rode it for the first time from my home in NYC to Baltimore in 2022 and paid $120 for a business-class ticket.
Cut to three years later — Amtrak launched its new NextGen Acela fleet in August. I wanted to see how it compared to the older model, so I booked a $180 business-class ticket from New York City to Washington, DC, in September.
Here are the differences I spotted that made my second ride a better experience.
The old and new Acela trains looked completely different on the outside.
As a seasoned Amtrak rider, I didn’t think much of the original Acela’s exterior when I rode it back in 2022. To me, it looked as plain and boxy as any other on the train line — save for the Acela branding.
But the NextGen Acela had a fresh, new appearance. Parked next to the older model, its shiny paint, round shape, and sports car-like headlights made it look like a ride from the future.
Compared to the old Acela, the new train has 27% more seats and can travel 10 miles per hour faster, with a top speed of 160 miles per hour, according to Amtrak.
The business-class seating cars had the same layout, but the NextGen Acela had more modern interiors.
When I stepped aboard the new train, I noticed the seating arrangement hadn’t changed. It was still two sets of two seats on either side of the car. However, some modern upgrades made the NextGen Acela look noticeably different.
The overhead bin space on the new train was exposed, making the space feel brighter. Instead of fabric curtains, the NextGen Acela had retractable window shades, which made the car look less cluttered.
The new train also added screens with information about the ride on the walls and ceilings.
The older car had large seats, but I thought they felt stiff.
My business-class seat on the first Acela was 20 inches wide and 26 feet deep. There was a tray table, a reading light overhead, and two power outlets on the wall beneath the window.
I also had a footrest, the option to recline, and plenty of legroom, thanks to a 42-inch seat pitch.
The seats on the NextGen Acela were sleeker and more comfortable.
The chairs on my second ride were noticeably thinner, but I found them to be much more comfortable. The cushions felt softer, and the material felt smoother. The new seats also had winged headrests, which gave me a bit of privacy from the traveler beside me.
An Amtrak representative told Business Insider that the seat pitch is slightly smaller than on the old train at 39 inches, but I didn’t notice a difference. They added that the NextGen seats are taller, wider, and deeper than those on the old Acela.
The seat had all the same amenities, but I thought they were more conveniently placed. The outlets were between seats rather than by the window, and the reading lights were on the side of the headrest rather than above.
The new seat tray tables also had pullout cupholders, which was a helpful design for turbulent rides.
The café car got a major upgrade.
I didn’t think much of the café car on the original Acela. It served its purpose of providing snacks and quick meals from the counter, but it wasn’t highly stylized. The interiors didn’t stand out to me at all.
But stepping into the café car on the NextGen Acela felt like walking into a retro diner with bold red surfaces. Unlike the old one, the new café car had a self-service grab-and-go station with premade meals.
The bathroom did, too.
The bathrooms on both trains were spacious, but the NextGen had a stylish shelf and touch-free technology for washing and drying.
Both trains had WiFi.
On my first Acela ride, I could use the WiFi to work on my laptop, but I couldn’t stream videos smoothly. But on the new train, high-speed 5G WiFi was fast enough to watch whatever I wanted seamlessly.
Both rides had turbulent moments, but the second one felt smoother.
I’m used to train turbulence. And the bumpy parts of my first Acela ride felt similar to other Amtrak trains. The cars shook and rattled over the rails.
But the new train had a tilt system that made these moments feel smoother. The first train reminded me of a tame wooden roller coaster, while the second felt more like a steel roller coaster.
Although the second trip had a similar arrival time to the first, the fresh new fleet was full of upgrades that improved my experience.
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