by Joe Kleiman, IPM Online News Editor
Atlantic City, NJ, USA (March 9, 2012) — ACES, or Atlantic City Express Service, officially announced today that it is ceasing operation. The double decker trains, which traveled between New York City’s Penn Station and Atlantic City, with a brief stop in Newark, NJ, were financed by Caesars Atlantic City and Harrah’s Resort, both Caesars Entertainment properties, and Borgata, a joint venture casino resort between Boyd Gaming Corporation and MGM Resorts International. The three resorts invested a combined $19 million in the venture. Additional funding was provided by the Casino Investment Redevelopment Authority of New Jersey, which invested $4.5 million for locomotives and an additional $2 million during the first year of operation in order to offset close to $6 million in operating losses. The train service was operated under contract by NJ Transit.
Service ceased operation in September 2011 and was scheduled to resume later this year. Katie Dougherty, a spokeswoman for Ceasars Atlantic City, told the Associated Press: “We learned a lot about trains over the last three years. It was an issue of tunnel time and track time and being able to provide a convenient schedule for riders. It just didn’t work out.”