April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger railroad, said the suspension of its Acela high-speed service connecting Boston, New York and Washington will last at least six days and as long as two months.

Amtrak canceled the service after routine inspections found cracks in brake rotors before today's runs. The cancellation of Amtrak's highest-priced service affects 34 daily departures of trains made jointly by Canada's Bombardier Inc. and France's Alstom SA, the railroad said in a statement. Passengers are being served by other Amtrak trains.

The 20 Acela trains, which provide a fifth of Amtrak's service in the Northeast, have a history of mechanical troubles. The railroad and the companies signed a $1.2 billion contract in 1996 to produce the trains. The start of service in 2000 was delayed almost a year by mechanical difficulties. Some trains were out of service for almost two months in 2002 because shock absorbers cracked.

``There is obviously going to be negative financial impact and passenger dissatisfaction,'' said David Johnson, assistant director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, a Washington lobbying group. ``Amtrak took the safe and prudent course rather than keep the trains in service and risk failure and a potentially damaging incident.''

Bill Crosbie, Amtrak's chief operating officer, told reporters that the service will be shut down at least through April 20. It could take as long as two months before all trains, which serve 9,000 passengers daily, are operating.

Acela trains have six coaches and are designed to travel at up to 150 mph. They accounted for $128.8 million, or 22 percent, of Amtrak's $579 million in train revenue through the first five months of the fiscal year, the most recent statistics available on the railroad's Web site.

Replacement Trains

Amtrak planned to run three trains later today to replace canceled departures. Travelers who cancel their Acela trips will receive a full refund, spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. Those who switch to other trains will get back the difference between the higher fare and the price charged for the train they ride.

Crosbie said Amtrak inspected every train after the first crack was found and discovered cracks in 300 of 1,440 brake rotors. He said the railroad doesn't know what caused the cracks, how much they would cost to repair and who would pay.

``This is no different than your auto if you found a crack in the brake rotor,'' Crosbie said.

Court Battles

The manufacturers and Amtrak have battled in court over responsibility for earlier defects. Bombardier sued first, in 2001, claiming the railroad's specifications for the equipment were defective. Amtrak countersued, and the dispute was settled out of court last year.

Bombardier and Alstom are responsible for maintaining the Acela trains. Amtrak takes over that responsibility in 2006.

``The priority is to get the trains back in service as soon as possible,'' said David Slack, a spokesman for Montreal-based Bombardier. He said the trains remain under warranty and that Amtrak and the manufacturers will later decide who pays for the fix.

Slack said the brakes on the Acela trains were made by Knorr Brake Corp., a unit of closely held Knorr Bremse AG of Munich. Crosbie said Wabco, a unit of Wabtec Corp. of Pittsburgh, also supplied brake parts. Wabtec spokesman Tim Wesley said Wabtec didn't supply the part that failed.

A call for comment to the U.S. office of Knorr in Westminster, Maryland, wasn't immediately returned. Paris-based Alstom didn't return a call requesting comment.

Quest for Funding

Amtrak is trying to win new federal funding to continue service after Oct. 1, when its current $1.2 billion subsidy will run out. President George W. Bush wants to break up Amtrak into separate operating and maintenance companies and force states to pay half of passenger-service costs.

``This is not a helpful thing,'' Amtrak President David Gunn told reporters today. ``I don't think this will be a factor per se in our funding. There are a lot of other issues other than a piece of equipment failing.''

He said issues such as the Administration's reform proposals and the budget process would have greater importance in the funding debate.

20 Percent

The trains account for about 20 percent of departures between Boston and Washington, where two-thirds of Amtrak's 25 million annual passengers travel. Connell said the service was stopped as a precaution and that no accidents had been reported.

Amtrak charges $157 one-way for a three-hour Washington-New York weekday trip, about double the price of other service, which takes about 30 minutes more.

Amtrak created the name Acela in 1999 to signify ``a combination of acceleration and excellence.'' The trains in the first five months of the fiscal year have arrived on-time 73 percent of the time, less than the 78 percent rate achieved by U.S. airlines last year, according to the Transportation Department.

The trains overall have a 72 percent on-time arrival rate, which was dragged down because 17 overnight trains that primarily use tracks owned by freight railroads such as Union Pacific Corp. had 50 percent on-time performance. Airlines and Amtrak define on- time arrivals as within 15 minutes of schedule.

Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman of US Airways Group Inc., said the airline hasn't seen an increase in East Coast shuttle flights because of the Amtrak cancellations. Flights in the region are already ``very full'' for the weekend, she said.

The railroad has received $29 billion in federal subsidies since it was created in 1971 and has never made a profit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rip Watson in Washington at rwatson3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 15, 2005 17:58 EDT