All aboard for a better commute? It's coming, particularly for those who live in the Northeastern United States. And swapping your car keys for a train ticket never looked so promising.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced today that $16.4 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be awarded to 25 passenger rail projects along the Northeast Corridor (NEC). The NEC is the railroad line between Boston and Washington, D.C., the busiest railway in the United States. It's also one of the highest-volume passenger routes in the entire world., with hundreds of thousands of passengers taking the routes daily.
Environmentally and economically, traveling between Boston, New York and Washington D.C. via train is beneficial. The daily trains carry five times more passengers than all flights between Washington and New York. And the Amtrak trains traveling on these tracks emit up to 83% less greenhouse gas emissions compared to car travel and up to 72% less greenhouse gas emissions than flying.
“Under President Biden, we are finally delivering the generational investments in passenger rail that Americans have wanted for years, including modernizing the busiest rail corridor in the country,” Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Transportation Secretary, said in a briefing. “These investments will make our busiest passenger railroad safer, faster, and more reliable, which means fewer delays and shorter commutes for the 800,000 passengers who rely on the Northeast Corridor every day.”
And while close to a million people rely on these rails daily, the Northeast Corridor hasn't seen significant improvements since, well, The Gilded Age. The project dates back to the 1830s, and if the railroad were to shut down for just one day, it would cost the economy $100 million in lost productivity.
To keep commuters happy and the economy going, the $16.4 billion will be mainly allocated to improving major bridges, tunnels and stations.
New York City's Penn Station will receive $1.6 billion to rehabilitate 19 miles of the Amtrak-owned Hell Gate Line, including tracks, bridges, and signals. New Yorkers can also take advantage of new Metro-North service to Penn Station, increased Amtrak service, and faster travel times between the Bronx and Manhattan.
In Maryland, the Susquehanna River Bridge (MD) will receive $2.1 billion to replace a 100-year-old rail bridge with two new two-track spans, allowing train speeds to increase from 90 mph to 125 mph. The Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Maryland will receive $4.7 billion to replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, increasing speeds from 30 mph to 110 mph and reducing delays on the entire Northeast Corridor.
And in Connecticut, $827 million will be used to replace the 116-year-old Connecticut River Bridge with a modern, resilient, movable bridge and increase speeds from 45 mph to 70 mph.
The era of high-speed train travel is upon us.