53 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 7/15/21

 

NEC Commission unveils 15-year plan to upgrade passenger-rail service

 

 

The Northeast Corridor Commission yesterday released Connect NEC 2035 (C35), a 15-year, $117 billion plan calling for the most ambitious reinvestment program in the corridor’s history.

 

Northeast state governments, the federal government, eight commuter-rail agencies and Amtrak worked together through the NEC Commission to develop a detailed and efficient sequencing of infrastructure investments covering 150 projects and capital renewal efforts along the corridor, commission officials said in a press release.

 

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[KevinKorell]

Connecticut Examiner,  Old Lyme, CT, 8/19/21:

 

 

    About That Rail Route More Parallel to I-95    

 

 

We’re not sure what to make of reported comments by Amtrak head William Flynn, who apparently reassured Charlestown, RI in a recent phone call that the multistate Northeast Corridor Commission is now leaning toward routing a new high-speed rail line between Providence and New Haven on a path “more parallel to Route 95.”

 

Story

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 9/9/21

 

 

A commission has a $117 billion plan to modernize the Northeast Corridor. Here’s how it improves passenger rail.

 

  Northeast Corridor Commission Executive Director Mitch Warren talks to The Post about the proposal.

 

 

A federally appointed panel is urging ambitious, costly steps to modernize the passenger rail network between Washington and Boston to reduce chronic delays and improve travel times.

In a report released this summer, the Northeast Corridor Commission proposes a path for rebuilding the nation’s busiest rail corridor with a $117 billion investment that would cover more than 150 projects, including fixing the biggest chokepoints along the route. Officials say the 15-year vision, dubbed Connect NEC 2035, or C35, would bring travel times between Washington and New York, and New York and Boston, that are about 30 minutes faster.

 

Commission Executive Director Mitch Warren said the plan would get its biggest boost of funding from the infrastructure package that passed the Senate last month.

 

The bipartisan $1.2 trillion plan — which includes a record $66 billion for rail — would put passenger rail leaders in a position to move forward with major projects that lack funding. Among those would be replacement of the 148-year-old Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel in Maryland and the 111-year-old Hudson River Tunnel in the New York area.

 

The NEC Commission, created by Congress about a decade ago, brings together officials from Amtrak, commuter railroads, and state and federal agencies to discuss strategies to improve the corridor. Warren spoke to The Washington Post about the plan and how the infrastructure package funding could shape it in the next decade.

 

 

Continue here for interview w/audio link.

[KevinKorell]

CT Insider,  12/3/23:

 

 

     Amtrak's winding path through eastern CT forces trains to crawl. Could a new route help?  

 

 

The curving shoreline of Connecticut may offer impressive views for Amtrak riders along the Northeast Corridor, but at a steep cost of both speed and efficiency. 

 

 

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