Northeastern U.S. Rail Infrastructure To Be Transformed
Though receiving a B in ASCE’s 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, numerous repairs and upgrades are required to raise the status of America’s rail sector to a state of good repair. Rcent efforts to improve the Northeast Corridor, following a 15-year timeline, with focus on service goals, travel trends, resource constraints and workforce analysis.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), The aging corridor, which spans 457 mi from Boston to Washington, D.C., and comprises critical passenger and intercity rail routes along with freight routes, will get a major boost from C37, as the program is known.
The NEC Commission, created by Congress in 2008 and consisting of officials from Amtrak, state departments of transportation, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, works to secure funding and planning for the NEC and has developed and implemented numerous infrastructure projects to upgrade the corridor.
The commission website highlights the necessity of C37: “The NEC’s most heavily trafficked bridges and tunnels are over a century old and parts of its electrical and signal systems date back to the 1930s. These aging assets are prone to failure, disrupting service and creating delays for riders.”
According to ASCE’s report card, infrastructure-related issues contribute significantly to NEC train delays – more than 300,000 train-delay minutes in 2019, which equates to roughly 700 train trips from Boston to Washington.
