On April 26, five Northeastern states will vote in what's become known as Acela Tuesday. If you're not local to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, or Rhode Island, the nickname isn't overwhelmingly obvious. However, the mystery doesn't require much digging. This upcoming Tuesday is named after the Acela Express, a train service that connects each of the states. According to its schedule, the Amtrak's Acela Express stops in a number of large cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, New Haven, Baltimore, and Washington D.C. The train even houses its own Acela Café where passengers can catch a bite on the go.
For people in that region, the Acela Express has become an important form of transportation. The 15-year-old high-speed-rail is also the pride and joy of Amtrak, who threw an elaborate series of anniversary events for it in December 2015. According to former Amtrak Board member John Robert Smith, the train was the first of its kind to be built in the United States. He explained its significance in an article published by the company in 2015.
The entire nation helped build Acela Express - it was visionary and aspirational transportation...It is the sparkling gem of a national passenger rail system.
For passengers, the Acela route will be a little different on Tuesday as millions of people make their way over to their local polling stations. According to the polls, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are favored to win a majority of the votes. Though Sanders has a considerable chance in smaller states like Delaware, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, his potential wins aren't expected to hugely concern Clinton and her lead of 275 pledged delegates. Instead, expect the Republican elections to be more contentious.
On Sunday night, John Kasich's and Ted Cruz's campaigns released joint statements saying they will join forces to defeat Trump. And, you guessed it — Trump is not pleased. This next round of elections will reveal whether or not his opponents' new strategy will hurt Trump's support or bolster it even more now that he can truly claim the Republican Party is working against him.
The states voting on Tuesday may be small, but they offer up a good amount of delegates for both the Democrats and the Republicans. Clinton and Sanders will compete for 462 Democratic delegates, most of which come from Pennsylvania and Maryland. On the opposite side of the aisle, Kasich, Cruz, and Trump will compete for 172 Republican delegates. Two of those states are winner-take-all. The Acela Primary occurs during this election season's homestretch, but it certainly won't go as smoothly as the Acela Express.
