An ambitious plan to rebuild delay-causing infrastructure on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor line across eight states and shave close to 30 minutes off a New York to Boston rail trip was unveiled by Amtrak, federal and transit officials Wednesday.
The $117 billion, 15-year, Connect NEC plan 35 was unveiled at Moynihan train hall in Manhattan by the Northeast Corridor Commission, a consortium of eight states, nine transit providers, including NJ Transit, Amtrak and federal transportation agencies. Commission members approved the plan on June 24, said Nicole Bucich, NEC Commission planning director.
The plan would increase speed, reduce travel time and fix the backlog of nagging infrastructure problems that can delay commuters and longer distance rail travelers, the commission says. The plan, nicknamed C35, also includes mega projects such as the $11.6 billion Gateway project to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River and a project to replace a 150-year-old rail tunnel in Baltimore.
“We can deliver benefits by 2035 and do high speed rail in segments and reduce travel times,” said Amit Bose, Federal Railroad Administration Deputy Administrator and NEC Commission co-chair. The projects promise to increase capacity for Amtrak trains by 33% and double capacity for commuter railroads that use the NEC.”
The nation’s busiest and only high speed rail line, the NEC is used by 2,220 trains and provides about 750,000 trips a day. C35 would increase total daily NJ Transit round trips from 196 to 465, according to the plan.
The plan tackles state of good repair projects, addressing infrastructure failures that frustrate commuters and longer distance rail passengers.
Among the more significant proposals is the New Jersey High Speed Rail Improvement Program that includes upgrades to electrical power, signal systems, tracks, and overhead catenary wires to extend high speed operations from New Brunswick to Newark.
Sections of the Northeast Corridor have signals and overhead wires that are more than 80 years old. Electric wire and power problems wreaked havoc on commuters in July 2015 with four workdays of failures that resulted in delays and riders stranded on trains on the NEC.
In the New York metro region, which includes the NEC in New Jersey, the plan calls for replacing 1.14 million linear feet of rail, 76,000 ties that support rails, 190 turnouts that allow trains to switch tracks, 3,300 catenary poles that support overhead wires that power trains, and 100 low bridges.
It includes building the Hunter “flyover” bridge south of Newark Penn Station for Raritan Valley line trains to exit and enter the NEC without crossing over the entire NEC and delaying trains. It would further the goal of giving RVL riders a one seat ride to New York, instead of changing trains in Newark as they now do, the group has said.
It includes work that’s part of the larger Gateway project, such as building an addition south of Penn Station New York, building the Bergen loop tracks to allow Bergen County line trains to merge onto the NEC and provide one seat ride service to New York, constructing a second Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in Kearny.
The most ambitious part of the plan is creating new high-speed corridors between New Haven, Connecticut and Providence, Rhode Island and between Baltimore and Washington D.C. on the NEC.
“It’s not just about high speed rail, but rebuilding assets in all (eight) states,” said Stephen Gardner, Amtrak president.
The price tag for the overall plan is $117 billion and it is expected to create 1.7 million jobs and have $100 million in economic benefit, said Gardner said.
The C35 report said it has a $100 billion funding gap, beyond already-funded projects, such as the $1.8 billion Portal Bridge North bridge over the Hackensack River replacement.
Funding could potentially come from a variety of sources, starting with the $547 billion infrastructure bill currently pending in Congress.
“We have the plan, hopefully they have the funding,” Gardner said. “It will significantly reduce (travel) times across the NEC.”
Other funding sources for C35 projects could be various railroad infrastructure grants and low interest loan programs, said Nuria Fernandez, Federal Transit Administration Administrator.
Projects that benefit particular states could rely on those states to share a portion of the funding, similar to what New Jersey and New York are doing to fund half of the Gateway Tunnel project, she said.
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Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com.
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