Amtrak

Amtrak: Northeast Corridor Faces Investment Crisis

WASHINGTON — The success of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) has used up much of the legacy capacity of the existing railroad and depleted its infrastructure assets leading to a “major coming investment crisis that, without a solution, will mean strangled growth and deteriorating service” for 260 million intercity and commuter rail passengers who rely on it each year, Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman told a Congressional committee today. “We have pushed the current NEC infrastructure about as far as it can go, but the end of demand and growth is nowhere in sight. A new model for investment is

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Amtrak

Amtrak Planning to Acquire New Next-Generation High-Speed Train Sets

WASHINGTON – Amtrak is advancing plans to acquire new next-generation high-speed train sets and ending its plans to purchase 40 additional high-speed passenger cars to add to the existing Acela Express fleet. In early 2013, Amtrak will issue a Request for Information (RFI) to formally start the process that will replace the existing 20 Acela Express train sets and add additional train sets to expand seating capacity and provide for more frequent high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the railroad said. “Moving directly to new high-speed train sets is the best option to create more seating capacity, permit higher

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Amtrak

Mica: Focus High Speed Rail Construction on NEC

If the country is going to build high-speed rail, its focus should be squarely on the densely populated Northeast Corridor (NEC), especially considering the highway and air congestion in the region, and the existing connections to other transportation modes, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., contends. The NEC is the only segment of rail primarily owned by Amtrak rather than the freight railroads. He stated that while the Administration has invested some in the NEC, it’s been in a piecemeal, half-baked fashion. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Members, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the Department of Transportation Inspector General highlighted