Overhauling Amtrak

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by electricron

NYC to NH remain 79 mph max speeds for a reason, that's how it was signaled and that is how MTA and CDOT maintains it. Upgrading the track speeds in NJ from 135 mph to 150 mph required new signals and crossover switches on a perfectly straight corridor alignment. The alignment is not so straight in Connecticut, either vertically or horizontally. Good luck with that. But if 110 mph maximum speeds can be attained in Massachusetts all the better, somehow I believe the existing line via Providence would still be faster. Is the existing line between NH and Boston so congested with trains that an alternate corridor is needed?

As for west of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, new tunnels will be needed along the existing corridor. How many more tunnels will be needed with a routing via State College, as I was responding to initially? Additionally, Lucid Stew usually confuses maximum speeds with average speeds with his YouTube estimations. I prefer City Nerd's estimations better because he knows that difference and uses a gravity model factoring in distance with his ridership projections.

Speed was lowered to 80mph from 100mph several yrs ago due to the track condition. I doubt the existing shore line is faster then going Inland via Springfield. Most of that line except a few areas will be upgraded to 110mph+ , the Shore line from New Haven to Kingston is extremely curvy and then on approach to Providence & Pawtucket is curvy...so how is that faster? Some of those curves are 25mph.. The tightest curves on the Inland route are currently 50mph with proposal to upgrade then to 80mph..

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Speed was lowered to 80mph from 100mph several yrs ago due to the track condition. I doubt the existing shore line is faster then going Inland via Springfield. Most of that line except a few areas will be upgraded to 110mph+ , the Shore line from New Haven to Kingston is extremely curvy and then on approach to Providence & Pawtucket is curvy...so how is that faster? Some of those curves are 25mph.. The tightest curves on the Inland route are currently 50mph with proposal to upgrade then to 80mph..

The shoreline route would be faster because there are fewer freight trains on it. It's double track and electrified already. The inland route is double track, non electrified tracks, with lots of slower freight trains on it. No matter how much the tracks are straighten, nor being electrified, the slower freight trains will still be in the way of faster passenger trains. Good luck at eliminating those freight trains.
The only way an inland route will be faster is if you build an entirely new, passenger train only, railroad corridor. And that is not what is being proposed.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by electricron

The shoreline route would be faster because there are fewer freight trains on it. It's double track and electrified already. The inland route is double track, non electrified tracks, with lots of slower freight trains on it. No matter how much the tracks are straighten, nor being electrified, the slower freight trains will still be in the way of faster passenger trains. Good luck at eliminating those freight trains.
The only way an inland route will be faster is if you build an entirely new, passenger train only, railroad corridor. And that is not what is being proposed.

There aren't that many Freight trains inland , 1-2 a day east of Springfield. One Option is to build a straighter route via the I-90 ROW from Springfield to Worcester.

[aprice1828]

Somewhat old news at this point but it hasn't been posted here yet.
trains .com - New Acelas pass computer modeling test, New York Times reports
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-revi...times-reports/

[Busy Bee]

Yeah saw that a couple weeks back. Good news. Hopefully will see revenue runs shortly.

[202_Cyclist]

As the saying goes, you had one job to do...

Report: Federal government never received Salt Lake City-Boise rail application


The Federal Rail Administration announced several grants to transportation agencies across the U.S. late last year, an effort to study possible expansion of the country’s passenger rail network as part of its Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) program.

KPCW
By Parker Malatesta
February 1, 2024

"A grant application to study a connection between Salt Lake City and Boise was rejected, and according to Idaho-based local news site Boise Dev, we now know why.

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) was responsible for submitting the application on behalf of numerous partners, including the Utah Department of Transportation and Salt Lake City government.

The agency mistakenly applied for a separate program.

“Inadvertently, one of our staff members submitted the application for this Corridor ID to the wrong link, ” ITD spokesperson John Tomlinson told BoiseDev..."

https://www.kpcw.org/state-regional/...il-application

[202_Cyclist]

We are having Infrastructure Decade instead of Infrastructure Week and these investments in passenger rail are putting thousands of Americans to work.

Amtrak awards joint contract for $4.7B Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore


By Dillon Mullan
Baltimore Sun
Feb. 6, 2024

“ Two engineering and construction firms have won up to $4.7 billion in federal infrastructure funding to build the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Baltimore.

Amtrak said Tuesday that Kiewit Corp. and J.F. Shea Construction Inc. have been awarded a joint contract to build the new rail tunnel for Amtrak and MARC commuter trains that will replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel.

“We are one step closer to unlocking the biggest passenger rail bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and New Jersey,” Amtrak Vice President Laura Mason said in a news release...”

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/02...-in-baltimore/

[Paniolo Man]

Here is a link to the full release.

The routes:

1 – Chicago to Miami, via Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa.
2 – Dallas/Fort Worth to Miami, via Marshall, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville.
3 – Denver to Houston, via Trinidad, Amarillo, and Dallas/Fort Worth.
4 – Los Angeles to Denver, via Barstow, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne.
5 – Phoenix to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Newton, Kansas City, Omaha, and Sioux Falls.
6 – Dallas/Fort Worth to New York, via Oklahoma City, Tulsa, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Pittsburgh.
7 – Houston to New York, via New Orleans, Mobile, Montgomery, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Lorton, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
8 – Seattle to Denver, via Portland, Boise, Pocatello, Salt Lake City, and Grand Junction.
9 – San Antonio to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Dallas/Fort Worth, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Des Moines.
10 – San Francisco to Dallas/Fort Worth, via Merced, Bakersfield, Barstow, Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, and Midland.
11 – Detroit to New Orleans, via Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Montgomery, and Mobile.
12 – Denver to Minneapolis/St. Paul, via Cheyenne, Pierre, and Sioux Falls.
13 – Seattle to Chicago, via Yakima, Kennewick, Spokane, Sandpoint, Helena, Billings, Bismarck, and Fargo.
14 – Dallas/Fort Worth to Atlanta, via Marshall, Jackson, Meridian, and Birmingham.
15 – El Paso to Billings, via Albuquerque, Trinidad, Denver, Cheyenne, and Casper.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Paniolo Man

The routes:

New election year, aurprise, surprise, a new list. Whooppee!

[TowerDude]

• Video Link

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by electricron

New election year, aurprise, surprise, a new list. Whooppee!

Well, there is one ‘President’ who made infrastructure a punchline and one President who enacted a once-in-a-generation investment in ports, passenger rail, transit, and airports. To paraphrase him, it’s a big fucking deal.

[202_Cyclist]

I have already seen new departures added for travel this spring. This is a very significant gain in capacity enabled partly by changing the seating configuration on the trains.

US passenger railroad Amtrak boosting East Coast rail service


By David Shepardson
March 4, 2024
Reuters

"WASHINGTON - U.S. passenger railroad Amtrak said on Monday it will boost passenger services on the East Coast as it aims to double ridership nationwide by 2040.

The railroad is increasing Northeast Regional service between Boston and Washington by as much as 20% on weekdays and will add 1 million additional seats over the next year. The service topped pre-pandemic ridership by 8% in the three months ending Sept. 30 and was up 29% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30 to 9.2 million.

Congress approved $66 billion in funding for rail projects as part of a massive infrastructure bill in 2021, with $22 billion dedicated to Amtrak and $36 billion made available for grants..."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...ce-2024-03-04/

[Crawford]

Long past due. The Acela trains are often booked out weeks in advance.

I recently had to fly to DC for work bc no trains available.

[mrnyc]

^ yup, same for my spouse last week for boston. and the meetings were right downtown in boston, so a needless pita to hassle with the airports.

[Velvet_Highground]

“11 – Detroit to New Orleans, via Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Montgomery, and Mobile”

Ah yes Detroit to New Orleans just as (the sun) god (Louis XIV) intended.

[dchan]

How much faster is Acela from NYC to DC compared with the regular Amtrak? I took the regular Amtrak in 2022 and thought it travelled at a pretty decent speed. It sure beat driving.

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by dchan

How much faster is Acela from NYC to DC compared with the regular Amtrak? I took the regular Amtrak in 2022 and thought it travelled at a pretty decent speed. It sure beat driving.

Going to Moynihan station, Acela is about 30 minutes faster than the regional trains. Continuing on to Stamford and other destinations in Connecticut, Acela is nearly an hour faster than the regional trains because of less dwell time of passengers changing trains at Moynihan station.

I had a couple of free upgrades to first class on Acela recently, which was quite nice.

[dchan]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Going to Moynihan station, Acela is about 30 minutes faster than the regional trains. Continuing on to Stamford and other destinations in Connecticut, Acela is nearly an hour faster than the regional trains because of less dwell time of passengers changing trains at Moynihan station.

I had a couple of free upgrades to first class on Acela recently, which was quite nice.

Thanks!

[electricron]

Originally Posted by dchan

How much faster is Acela from NYC to DC compared with the regular Amtrak? I took the regular Amtrak in 2022 and thought it travelled at a pretty decent speed. It sure beat driving.

NYC to DC elapse times (per schedules)
Acela fastest = 2 hours 50 minutes "2153"
Regional fastest = 3 hours 13 minutes "181"
Long distance fastest = 3 hours 19 minutes "79 Carolinian"

[dchan]

Originally Posted by electricron

NYC to DC elapse times (per schedules)
Acela fastest = 2 hours 50 minutes "2153"
Regional fastest = 3 hours 13 minutes "181"
Long distance fastest = 3 hours 19 minutes "79 Carolinian"

Yep, that's what I recalled. Acela was faster than the regional, but not life-changing faster.