The train was designed with a 20 year service life and is approaching 30. We do need new trains, even if they didn’t bring about any improvements.

The new cars hold far more people, are faster, and they are supposed to be paired with comprehensive upgrades to the extremely aged infrastructure and tracks along that route.

Both the cars and the overhaul on the route were funded by the Biden admin (primarily with funds allocated by congress between 2021 and 2023) with the intent that modernisation to the route would gradually allow the cars to run at speed over the next few years. Now it's unclear what the status is of this infrastructure overhaul with the current administration suspending funds for the previous admin's projects.

Quoting from the brief article you didn't read:

> Amtrak previously has said the new trains could potentially shave 20 minutes off the travel time between New York City and Washington, D.C., reducing the duration to around 2½ hours

> because of Amtrak’s old infrastructure, the new trains can only travel at top speed during certain portions of the journey [...] Infrastructure upgrades planned over the coming years will improve trainspeed and reliability, the railroad said.

> Each new train will hold 386 passengers, an increase of 27% compared with the current fleet.

Therefore: Faster trains carrying more people. Just not faster on day 1.

Not faster, per the article. And again, more capacity should mean lower ticket prices or lower projected losses. We have neither.