  Beams of helium atoms in Rydberg states with principal quantum number $n=52$,
and traveling with an initial speed of 1950 m/s, have been accelerated,
decelerated and guided while confined in moving electric traps generated above
a curved, surface-based electrical transmission line with a segmented center
conductor. Experiments have been performed with atoms guided at constant speed,
and with accelerations exceeding $10^7$ m/s$^2$. In each case the manipulated
atoms were detected by spatially resolved, pulsed electric field ionization.
The effects of tangential and centripetal accelerations on the effective
trapping potentials experienced by the atoms in the decelerator have been
studied, with the resulting observations highlighting contributions from the
density of excited Rydberg atoms to the acceleration, deceleration and guiding
efficiencies in the experiments.
