New services lead to new routes to leave New Haven

By the end of the month, long Connecticut Limo delays and high airline fares out of New Haven may be a thing of the past for Yale students, and getting away from campus may become easier than ever.

ANDREW HEID/YH Union Station will soon become a stopping point for Amtrak's new Acela, a bullet train capable of travel over 150 mph.

After months of delays and technical problems, Amtrak is finally unveiling its $2 billion high-speed bullet trains, which will connect Washington, New York, Boston, and intermediate points, including New Haven. According to Amtrak officials, this new train, dubbed "Acela," will begin regional service by the end of January. For many, it will be a long-awaited arrival.

"Acela trains will offer unprecedented service in the Northeast Corridor," Karen Dunn, a spokeswoman for Amtrak, said. "Travel between New York and Boston will be cut significantly, from four hours and 50 minutes to three hours and 55 minutes."

Acela regional trains will make four daily round trips between Boston and Washington, running at 110 mph on electrified tracks. By the spring, though, Amtrak hopes to launch its Acela express service, which will allow trains to travel at 150-160 mph, stopping only in cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore.

Conversely, Tweed-New Haven Airport is losing altitude as airlines continue to leave the city. Over the past four years, the number of carriers serving the airport has declined severely. In 1996, four major airlines—United, Continental, U.S. Airways, and American—all provided service from Tweed to hub airports around the country. Today, only U.S. Airways Express remains, offering commuter flights to Philadelphia International Airport and Washington's Reagan National Airport.

"A lot of airlines just aren't sure about the market in New Haven," Rick Lamport, Tweed Airport Manager, said. "We're obviously not the region's biggest airport, and people in Connecticut have several places to choose from when they need to get on a plane."

One of those places, Hartford's Bradley International Airport, has experienced major growth over the past few months. With the addition of Southwest Airlines to Bradley in October, passenger traffic to and from Hartford has skyrocketed.

"This is great news for Bradley and for the Connecticut economy," State Transportation Commissioner James Sullivan said in a December 1999 press conference. "This is exactly what we had hoped for with regard to the `Southwest Effect.'"

"Southwest affects everything, wherever you go," Lamport said. "We don't know what this means for our future."

But Tweed Airport isn't on its last legs yet. Administrators at U.S. Airways insist that their airline will continue service into New Haven regardless of the competition in Hartford.

"We have every reason to continue supporting New Haven's airport," David Castlveter, a U.S. Airways spokesman, said. "We have a long-standing history at Tweed, and we want to give people as much choice as possible. Even if [the Acela service] has a major impact on the transportation industry, we—like everyone else in the business—will just have to become a lot more competitive."

However, due to Amtrak's present uncertainty about Acela's price schedule, the extent of this competition is not yet established. Amtrak's Dunn was not able to release exact pricing details, beyond asserting that the cost of Acela regional tickets will be competitive with airfares offered by Delta Airlines and US Airways. Currently, both airlines provide hourly "shuttle" service between Washington, New York, and Boston. On U.S. Airways, a round-trip ticket from Washington to New York costs $108, while a trip from New York to Boston is $116.

"Acela service is much more reasonable than flying for the average college student," Dunn explained. "It costs about the same, and there are no layovers in strange cities, no last-minute cancellations because of high winds or snow. Also, a big advantage of Acela service is that Amtrak stations are right in the middle of most major American cities, while airports are often located a cab's ride away in the suburbs."

Still, some Yale students don't mind that extra cab ride, and prefer using New Haven's Tweed Airport to get home.

"It takes almost no time to get to Tweed, and it seems much more convenient than Amtrak," Regan White, DC '03, a native of Charlotte, N.C., said. "Even if these new trains travel really fast, it would take way too long to get home with so many stops."

Meanwhile, David Goldberg, TC '02, is ready to climb aboard the newest in transportation technology. "In order to get a decent price on a flight, you need to reserve it months ahead of time. If it's cheaper than a flight, I'll take Acela."

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