Northeast Corridor

WASHINGTON – The nearly 100-year-old Thames River Bridge between New London, Conn., and Groton, Conn., will undergo a $76 million replacement of its aging bascule lift span under a construction contract between Amtrak and Pittsfield, Maine-based Cianbro Corp., the parties announced. The construction project will take two years to complete and is the largest single capital improvement Amtrak will make to the Northeast Corridor during this time. Work on the project begins this month on the installation of seven new underwater communications and signal submarine cables. In the most dramatic phase of the construction project to occur over 12 days

The project to double rail capacity between New Jersey and New York took a step forward July 27, when the N.J. Transit Board of Directors approved the locally preferred alignment (LPA) of the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel.

WASHINGTON – The first Acela Express trains returned to service July 11 with four daily departures from New York and Washington, marking an end to a roughly three-month service disruption, Amtrak announced. Throughout July, Amtrak announced weekday Acela Express service between New York and Washington beginning Monday, as well as weekend service starting July 16 on the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak suspended the trains’ operations after the discovery of cracks on the spokes of brake discs on April 15. The first trains to return operated Monday-Friday with two morning and two afternoon departures from New York and Washington, and served all