Quote:
Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey
Is it just me or did anyone read the plan , they combined the Northeastern Master Plan with the Old HSR Plan hench the cost increase then they got rid of 20 billion in fat. They can still trim some , like 20 Billion , but the HSR Plan didn't explode in costs. Alot of his proposals have been looked at and deemed to expensive for with little benefit. And Sharing with the MNRR is out of the question , its too slow and congested...hench the bypass. And By 2030 that part of the NEC with improvements will be over capacity like its I-95 neighbor. Theres no room for adding 2 more expensive... He seems out of touch with reality...once again , while the Amtrak Proposal is bold and huge , its not ridiculous they have trimmed alot of the fat from it....so more like ive said could be and probably will be trimmed. But the New England NEC must be bypassed there's no way you could straighten it out cheaply or add capacity cheaply... The NEC Master Plan calls for all bridges along the Shoreline NEC to be replaced and speeds increased on curves and curves straighten along with Constant Catenary which is all underway courtesy of MNRR.
|
I'll agree an additional tunnel under the Hudson will be needed so that there will be a 4 track mainline to Penn Station from both the east and west. I disagree a new bypass will be needed around Metro North soon. Lengthening platforms is the most appropriate solution at this time along the entire corridor to increase capacity. That might mean reconfiguring many stations and interlockings, but it's a far cheaper solution than building a brand new bypass from scratch.
For what it is worth, both Europe and Japan run HSR trains more than 8 cars in length. There's no reason that shouldn't be the first upgrade done on the NEC.
Typical HSR train lengths:
Japan > 700 series = 16 car EMU trainsets
TGV - Eurostar > 18 car train sets with 2 additional locomotives
Amtrak Acela > 6 car trainsets (hopefully 8 car train sets soon) with 2 additional locomotives.
Even if Acela was increased to 8 cars, other nations run trains twice as long more efficiently and without building parallel corridors.