Quote:
Originally Posted by Mad_Nick
Freight trains isn't a big problem on the NEC, there's very little freight traffic. And the traffic that does exist obviously has to yield to any Amtrak trains.
Most of the NEC has four tracks, so commuter trains aren't really a problem either. I don't think congestion is a problem on the NEC with the exception of the tunnels into Penn Station, and that's only because trains from dozens of other lines (NJT and LIRR) converge on those tunnels.
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Congestion is a major issue for the NEC, mostly in the crowded Philadelphia to NYC Penn Station segment, but congestion is a problem in other segments as well. The reason why much of the NEC is slow are old bridges, tunnels (the B&P tunnel in west Baltimore being perhaps the highest priority for replacement), slow curves, bottlenecks, and pretty much all of Connecticut. Amtrak is limited to 75 mph max speed, for the Regional and the Acelas, for most of the New Rochelle to New Haven segment which is controlled by Metro-North, not owned by Amtrak.
The (very) long-term goals called for in the Interim Assessment for improving trip times on the NEC report, released last October, are for 2:15 trip times from WAS to NYP and a rather non-ambitious 3:00 trip time from NYP to BOS for Acela class trains. To get some insight into what is needed to speed up the NEC, the interim report can be found at
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/Conten.../1237608345018 under PRIAA Submissions and Reports. This report is essentially a preview of the NEC Master Plan report which is supposed to be released sometime later this winter or in the spring.