Bringing true high-speed rail to the nation’s Northeast Corridor must be a top priority for the newly assembled commission responsible for developing a long-term rail transportation plan for the region, said U.S. Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), Republican leader of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) Advisory Commission, established under the 2008 Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA), is convening for the first time today in Washington, D.C.
The nine-term Congressman from the state’s 7thDistrict, which includes Jacksonville city limits and St. Augustine, said on Monday, “This Commission represents an opportunity to rescue high-speed rail in the Northeast Corridor after it was left at the station by the Obama Administration in the first round of funding,” said Mica, who helped write the 2008 rail law that included provisions providing for the solicitation of private sector participation in developing U.S. high-speed rail.
“However, when the $8 billion in stimulus awards were announced in January, the money was spread among 78 different projects, primarily for low-speed upgrades,” Mica continued.
Mica’s remarks came one day before Amtrak disclosed a 30-year plan for HSR in the Northeast.
“The Northeast Corridor received only token funding and shamefully little attention by the Obama Administration, even though the corridor represents America’s best chance for a true high-speed rail system,” he said.
Mica added, “The Northeast Corridor, a key asset for the nation, is the most densely populated and congested region in the country. The NEC is the only major rail corridor that Amtrak and the federal government own almost in its entirety. In contrast, Amtrak operates the rest of its 22,000-mile passenger rail network over privately owned freight rail tracks.
“Because of its regional and national congestion issues, concentration of population centers, well-established transit systems and airports, and federal ownership of the corridor, the NEC is the best fit for high-speed rail in the U.S.
Continuing his long-standing anti-Amtrak train of thought, he averred, “Anyone responsible for helping develop the future of NEC transportation must consider how we can develop and implement viable world-class high-speed rail service. Amtrak has repeatedly proven that it is not capable of this task. Its attempt at high-speed service, the Acela, averages only 83 mph – a far cry from the truly high-speed systems of Europe and Asia.”
Amtrak said yesterday next-generation high-speed rail service could be successfully developed in the Northeast with trains operating up to 220 mph (354 kph) on a new two-track corridor resulting in a trip time of about three hours between Washington and Boston cutting in half or better the current schedules, according to the passenger railroad’s concept plan.
At an average speed of 137 mph (220 kph), a trip between Washington and New York would take just 96 minutes, about one hour faster than today. For the trip between New York and Boston, the average speed would be 148 mph (238 kph) and take just 84 minutes, or a time savings of more than two hours.
“Amtrak is putting forward a bold vision of a realistic and attainable future that can revolutionize transportation, travel patterns and economic development in the Northeast for generations,” said President and CEO Joseph Boardman.
The Amtrak concept plan, A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), shows a financially viable route could be developed. Upon its full build-out in 2040, high-speed train ridership would approach 18 million passengers with room to accommodate up to 80 million annually as demand increases in the years and decades that follow. Departures of high-speed trains would expand from an average of one to four per hour in each direction, with additional service in the peak periods, and total daily high-speed rail departures would increase from 42 today to as many as 148 in 2040.
The service would generate an annual operating surplus of approximately $900 million and its construction would create more than 40,000 full-time jobs annually over a 25-year construction period to build the new track, tunnels, bridges, stations, and other infrastructure.
More than 120,000 permanent jobs in improved economic productivity along the corridor and in rail operations are predicted by 2040.
In addition to significant travel time savings between major cities, tremendous mobility improvements would come with environmental, energy and congestion mitigation benefits. The new transportation capacity obtained with this investment will allow a larger share of the intercity travel market to be via high-speed rail, strengthening sustainable, energy-efficient development in the corridor’s metropolitan areas.
“Amtrak’s plan to modernize the Northeast Corridor and make it a truly high speed rail line is the type of innovative thinking we need to get cars off the road, decrease pollution and put people to work improving America’s infrastructure,” stated Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.).
He said, “I applaud the plan and pledge to work with Amtrak to improve the Northeast Corridor and make America a leader in high speed rail.”
With an investment of $4.7 billion annually over 25 years, a major national transportation asset would be built to support the growth and competitive position of the Northeast region. Its population, economic densities and growing intercity travel demand make it one of the premier “mega-regions” of the world, and an ideal market for world-class high-speed passenger rail service.
“The results show the concept of a world-class high-speed rail service would help relieve congestion across all modes of transportation, spur jobs creation and economic productivity, reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of the environment,” said Al Engel, incoming Amtrak Vice President for High-Speed Rail.
A railroad spokesman said the specific high-speed alignment, stations, maintenance yards and other facilities that were analyzed in the report represent only one of a wide range of possible network and service configurations that could be developed. The analyzed concepts reflect the study’s underlying goals, including aggressive travel time savings and station locations in downtown areas and detailed preliminary planning and engineering assessments. These concepts would undergo numerous revisions, refinements and changes under more detailed study, and other concepts with different alignments would likely be further reviewed at that time.
Philosophically speaking, the spokesperson said “As America’s intercity passenger rail service provider and its only high-speed rail operator, Amtrak has a vital, leading and necessary role to play in expanding and operating high-speed rail service. Just as leading countries throughout Europe and Asia are expanding existing high-speed rail networks and developing new systems, Next-Generation High-Speed Rail must be part of a balanced transportation future in major travel corridors across the U.S.”
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