Background
Following the success of high-speed rail elsewhere, the US Federal Railroad Administration explored the possibilities of high-speed rail in the United States. On December 18, 1991 a range of five high speed rail corridors were authorized ("Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) (PL 102-240)") including the Northeast Corridor. During October 1992 another five corridors were announced individually. During 1993, the US government under Bill Clinton discussed a $1 billion funding program to drive the development of a 2000-mile high-speed rail network.
Amtrak started to ask railway equipment manufacturers for implementation options. An X 2000 train was leased from Sweden for test runs from October 1992 to January 1993. It was operated on the Northeast Corridor from February to May and August to September 1993. Siemens showed the ICE 1 train, organizing the ICE Train North America Tour which started to operate on the Northeast Corridor on July 3, 1993. A Talgo train set was presented in 1994. This testing allowed Amtrak to define a specification that went into a public tender by Amtrak in October 1994.
Read more about this topic: Acela Express, Origins and History
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