Amtrak has committed a USD 130 million investment for Northeast Corridor improvement of which over USD 55 million will be performed this summer. The works cover the replacement of 40 track switches throughout New York and the Northern and Southern Mid-Atlantic regions and updating up to 40 km of track in the Southern Mid-Atlantic Region.
“Amtrak continues to prioritise updating our infrastructure to improve service reliability on the Northeast Corridor. Modernising and investing in infrastructure is a continuous process on the railroad and we thank our partners for their coordination and flexibility as we advance these important projects,” Amtrak Executive Vice President, Capital Delivery Laura Mason said.
Once complete, these projects will reduce the train delays and significantly improve service quality for passengers. Train schedules have been adjusted to account for this work and to avoid conflicts with other commuter agencies, but Amtrak announces minor delays may be expected. For each project, Amtrak’s production team will be working the night shift and heavy production will occur on weekend nights to minimise impacts for customers.
The main line of the NEC is 735 km long crosiing major cities in the northeast region including Washington, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. In the pre-pandemic period, more than 260 million passenger trips annually were made on the corridor, of which 17.1 million annual trips are made by Amtrak passengers.
The Northeast Corridor improvement programme covers the implementation of ten projects including the replacement of the Baltimore & Potomac (B&P) tunnel, the gateway project targeting infrastructure upgrades on 16 km most congested section, doubling the existing double tracks on other sections, the future rail tunnel connecting New York Penn Station, as well as Baltimore Penn Station modernisation. The programme also includes the introduction of the new Acela train fleet covering 28 next-generation high-speed trainsets manufactured by Alstom under a USD 2.45 billion contract.
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