Quote:
Originally Posted by Alon
Metuchen is not fine and cannot handle 140 mph. The current limit is 100 mph (I can forward you the track map with the speed limit), and there's very little room for increasing that with higher cant limit. Go to Google Earth and compute the curve radius; it's not one that any train in regular revenue service in the world can safely take at 140 mph.
The point of not building gratuitous tunnels like Market East and the transition tunnels from New Rochelle to I-84 is that at $100 billion, it's not worth it and Congress will never find the money. At $10 billion, it becomes a realistic possibility. On the margin, the question should always be "how many minutes does this extra $100 million save?", and the answer toward the end is measured in seconds. The B & P replacement saves about 1.5 minutes using Acela trainsets, or about 2 using more modern stock (the better the trains accelerate, the worse a speed limit in the station throat affects travel time), and is estimated to cost $750 million. With the capacity gains, and the reduced squeal coming from lack of very tight curves, and the reduced maintenance costs coming from said squeal, it becomes worth it. The Market East tunnel, in comparison, is about $10 billion for another 2 minutes of time savings relative to straightening Frankford within ROW and squeezing extra speed out of the existing line.
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Which tracks Maps do you have , the ones the Rail community had were taken down. The Acela does 110mph through Metuchen....I guess some Straighten is required for the curves but its not as bad as Elizabeth....
I don't see the Problem with Market East , Charles Center , Wilmington South , or the Inland NEC... The Inland NEC would fill a much needed travel void in New England which was never completed and would of course bypass the congested / curvy coast. Most of Philly , Baltimore and Wilmington's plans run through cheap , poor land , except near the stations but this cheap , poor land makes tunneling cheaper then say 2nd Ave line. Sure the land is soft , but tunneling advancements make this easy and not a complex job...hence why I don't see Philly being a problem nor costly....same with Baltimore or Wilmington.... What happened to building big in this country why do we need to look at downsizing every project in this region....its starting to drive me nuts.... The Cost of the 151 billion is divided into various projects , Old NEC upgrade , New NEC , Keystone , Regional upgrades and misc things so about 2,780+ miles of new tracks , bridges , tunnels , stations , rolling stock... Not bad , also its not all Fed , some is state about 15-20 billion and some will be private... If PA removed its stupid PPP ban Market East would probably get built with Private funding...
You could write off Charles-Baltimore but I don't see that going over well with the Transit/Rail Advocates of that region which want Amtrak to do more....even bigger plans , same with the New England Rail Advocates which are very happy with the latest plan....the only grip is the lack of Regional Rail service between Providence and Waterbury...and no new Providence station but there happy with the rest. They don't want to really keep the Shoreline , which seems to be a regional wide agreement as a bad line... Inland has a ton of support , theres a question of in and around Providence to Boston. The North-South Tunnel proposal has divided the community... People like me think it should go through so the T could through run and lessen the strain on South Station along with Through HSR and Intercity Rail to New Hampshire and Maine... Others think its a waste , I would sacrifice Charles-Baltimore if the North-South Tunnel was added in.
Baltimore Penn Station is being expanded so MARC can expand service along with Amtrak , it will come with the Tunnel Replacements... But theres very little I know about the project.