Northeast Corridor – Page 21

Officials Tour Trenton’s New Transit Center

August 18, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — With the construction phase of the Trenton Transit Center project coming down the home stretch, Governor Jon S. Corzine joined federal, state and local officials today to tour the rebuilt, expanded and renamed facility — heralding a new era of transportation in the state capital. The newly expanded transit center comfortably accommodates more than 16,000 passenger trips each weekday, making it N.J. Transit’s third-busiest outlying station. “This attractive and functional facility demonstrates what we can achieve with the wise use of state and federal funds,” said Governor Corzine. “This project advances our policy of promoting public transportation and will help us capture the many economic and environmental

Rail Reregulation Rejected by Eastern Region of Council of State Governments

August 17, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The Eastern Regional Conference of the Council of State Governments has come out against schemes to reregulate the nation’s freight railroads. In a resolution passed August 13 by the group’s executive committee, the Council warned that congressional proposals to reregulate the railroads “may significantly reduce income and in turn reduce the ability (of railroads) to raise capital needed for future infrastructure expansion.” The northeastern region of the U.S. “will require significant railroad corridor development through railroad company/state government partnerships to accommodate future goods and passenger movement,” according to the resolution. The resolution notes that expanding the capacity of the freight rail network “would yield impressive public benefits by

Amtrak: July 2008 Amtrak Ridership Sets All-Time Monthly Record

August 14, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON – Amtrak ridership in July Fiscal Year 2008 increased to 2,750,278, nearly a 14 percent increase, marking the most passengers carried in any single month in Amtrak’s 37 year history. Total ridership for the Fiscal Year to date — October 1, 2007 – July 31, 2008 — reached 23.7 million, topping the 21.3 million from the same period last year. Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year to date reached $1.4 billion, a 14.1 percent increase over the same period in FY07. For the month of July, ticket revenue increased by 18.6 percent to $168 million. “Increasing fuel prices, highway congestion, airline issues and environmental awareness continue to make

N.J. Transit Buys Additional Multilevel Vehicles

August 13, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — The N.J. Transit Board of Directors approved the purchase of 50 additional Multilevel Vehicles to help meet increasing ridership demand on the corporation’s busiest commuter rail lines. “These vehicles have helped provide a near-term solution to capacity demands while we, in partnership with The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, advance a long-term response to ridership growth through the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) tunnel project,” said Governor Jon Corzine, who this morning rode an MLV train on the Northeast Corridor. The purchase will bring N.J. Transit’s total number of the popular rail cars to 329. The cars offer 15-20 percent more seating capacity

ARC Gets $75M in Funding

July 18, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEWARK, N.J. — Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both Democrats, said they successfully appropriated $75 million towards the Access to the Region’s Core (ARC) project – more than five times the amount dedicated last year – further advancing the engineering of two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River. “The unwavering support from senators Lautenberg and Menendez for this critical project will help provide relief to the state’s transportation system,” N.J. Gov. Jon S. Corzine said. “We applaud their efforts to secure record levels of appropriations for this project.” “This funding is keeping the ARC Tunnel project moving towards a full funding grant agreement from the Federal Transit

Amtrak Re-launches Regional Service as Northeast Regional

July 14, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — Amtrak has announced the re-launch of its Northeast Corridor Regional service, renaming it Northeast Regional. Traveling between Boston, New York, Washington, Richmond and Newport News, Va., the service, Amtrak’s busiest, transported more than 6.8 million passengers last fiscal year. Anticipating a busy summer travel season and the impact of an integrated marketing campaign, Amtrak expects the re-branding of the Northeast Regional and its associated service improvements to attract an additional 136,000 passengers to the service, valued at $8.9 million in ticket revenue annually. So far this fiscal year (October 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008), Amtrak’s Regional service has seen ridership grow to 5.6 million passengers, an increase

Kummant: Amtrak Could Always Use a Little More Cash

June 13, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

BOSTON – Amtrak could had easily asked for $1.6 billion to invest on capital improvements, more than double the funding it asked for in 2009, President Alex Kummant told Reuters. “To give you a sense of the capital flow, we today get between $500 million and $600 million a year on capital,” Kummant said. “We asked for the coming year for $800 million. We could easily spend twice of that if you look at the state of the repair backlog. And if you look at the appropriation, the kind of sliding scale here, the capital grants range in 2009 from $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion. “The states themselves in the

Bloomberg Supports Mica’s High Speed Rail Plan

June 1, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is supporting a Republican legislator’s plan to solicit proposals for high speed rail in the Northeast Corridor and other corridors around the nation. A plan from U.S. Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., “demonstrates the kind of ambitious, pragmatic thinking about our future,” Bloomberg said. “Investing in modern mass transportation is critical to New York’s future, and all options should be on the table. No idea should be ignored or dismissed simply because it is ambitious. That is not how America’s greatest infrastructure marvels — from the Brooklyn Bridge to the Grand Coulee Dam — got built. “Congressman Mica’s plan, which is

Mica: Partnership Needed to Improve Nation’s Rail Network

June 1, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

WASHINGTON — The country needs a partnership among “freight railroads, the federal government, Amtrak and other stakeholders” in order to improve the nation’s transportation system and protect the environment, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee says. “When we look for ways to improve our nation’s transportation system and protect the environment, nothing should be a higher priority than improving our rail capacity – for freight, passenger and high speed service,” said U.S. Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla. “I am concerned that one tool we already have for improving capacity – the Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RIFF) loan program – is underutilized,” Mica said. “We must look at ways

Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Create the Patriot Corridor to Improve Rail Service and Expand Capacity in New York and New England

May 15, 2008 Railfanning.org News Wire

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass. — Pan Am Railways and Norfolk Southern Railway have agreed to create an improved rail route between Albany, N.Y., and the greater Boston, Mass., area called the “Patriot Corridor.” Investments in the Patriot Corridor are expected to improve track quality and customer service, boost train speed and reliability, and increase capacity on the route. PAR and NS each will have a 50 percent interest in the newly formed railroad company, called “Pan Am Southern.” PAR has agreed to transfer to the joint venture its 155-mile main line track that runs between Mechanicville (Albany), N.Y., and Ayer, Mass., along with 281 miles of secondary and branch lines, including