The Acela is faster than standard Amtrak trains, but in many places it can't reach top speed because the track won't allow it. It's all business class and first class seating, with a café car and a "quiet car" where no talking is allowed (including on cell phones) so people can work. The passengers are serious, many of them working on laptops, tapping on iPhones, or talking about business deals and legal cases. Most are well-dressed in business attire. Much different from the long-distance trains where the passengers are casually dressed and have leisurely chats about travel and families.
Union Station is grand and gorgeous, with a Beaux-Arts design by renowned architect Daniel Burnham and soaring arched ceilings inside. It was originally opened in 1907 and restored in the 1980s and is heavily used by Amtrak passengers and commuters. There's a lot of new real estate development nearby.
Visited a recently-opened Apple store in the former Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square. Also a Beaux-Arts design, originally built in 1903. It's been restored by Apple as their flagship D.C. store after it had not been used as a library for many years. There's a very nice photographic exhibit about its construction, history and refurbishing, and about Andrew Carnegie's funding of libraries nationwide, on the lower level. Well worth a visit.
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| Union Station |
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| Acela at Union Station |
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| Apple Store at Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square |
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