The Future is Bright for Northeastern Rail Riders

So. I’m still a rail travel nerd – there’s no other method that makes long-distance travel so comfortable and enjoyable – but since I’ve moved to Amtrak’s core area in the northeastern megalopolis, I’ve yet to set foot on one of their trains.

Don’t get me wrong – I take NJ Transit aplenty, you’re a moron if you voluntarily drive into New York for leisure unless you have some reason to want to avoid the kind of security that Penn Station or Hoboken Terminal attract – but I haven’t really had the need to take an intercity rail trip in the past three years.

Still, it’s probably time to take a look at what Amtrak is doing in my general vicinity, and as it turns out, there’s a lot going on thanks to the impact of the whopping transportation bill recently signed by President Obama. It seems that the ailing Northeast Corridor, one of the busiest rail routes in the world, will benefit greatly.

For one thing, the legislation financially divides the viable Northeast Corridor – which is slated to bring in around $450 million in profits this year – from the rest of the Amtrak system, which will lose more than $500 million this year.

By keeping its own operating revenues, the Northeast Corridor will be able to pay for its own improvements, eventually increasing the average speed of trains and theoretically improving ridership and profitability.

The Corridor’s Acela service, currently America’s highest-speed passenger rail at speeds of up to 150 mph, will receive new higher capacity trains capable of traveling at 160 mph on current rail configurations, with the ability to accelerate to 220 mph when improvements are made.

More importantly, after being torpedoed by Gov. Chris Christie and floating in limbo for several years, a project to expand access to Manhattan from New Jersey looks like it will proceed. Earlier this year, New York, New Jersey and the Port Authority of NY/NJ agreed on cost structuring for the project if the federal government and Amtrak agree to cover half.

Theoretically, within 10-15 years, there should be 220 mph train service along much of the Northeast Corridor. The impact would be drastic, as travel times between Boston and New York are currently around 2 hours, 45 minutes and between New York and Washington just under 3 hours. With 220 mph service, those travel times could be reduced to around an hour on each segment and the train average out cheaper and faster than the short-hop air service between  the cities.

With additional higher-speed connections from the Northeast Corridor to Richmond, Lynchburg, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Albany, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Hartford and Springfield either built or in the planning stages, some semblance of a mature rail network is taking shape in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions.

Coming up: I’m going to look at the private versus public debate in high speed rail development, and discuss the impact of sub-$40 oil on passenger trains.

Let's Get Moving (again)

Well that was a long hiatus.

Actually, it hasn’t been that long with the way transportation policy has moved over the past several years. Until last week, the U.S. federal transportation budget has been surviving on extensions of transportation legislation dating back 10 years or so.

The FAST Act devotes $305 billion to the federal surface transportation program over five years, and has big implications for passenger rail travel.

Amtrak will receive $10 billion in funding over the duration of the bill, which also officially separates the Northeast corridor and connecting regional lines from public/private train system’s long-distance trains.

That means the Northeast Corridor, which brings in $400 million in profits annually, can now re-invest in itself.

Other recent good news includes a partnership between the feds, New Jersey, New York, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to construct new tunnel(s) under the Hudson River into Manhattan.

To remind you, this is important because NJ Transit and Amtrak have estimated that the current 100+ year-old tunnels will need to be closed for repairs within the next 20 years. Traveling in New Jersey already sucks, the last thing we need is to go from 40 trains to six trains both ways each hour through the Hudson Tubes.

I would expect that in the coming weeks, you’ll hear more about FAST, the progress of high speed rail in California, Illinois, Nevada, Florida, and Texas, and the woes of driving and train-riding in eastern New Jersey.

Author’s note: I have a new gig. Read about it here.

Bloomberg Slams US Infrastructure Spending

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was a guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe Thursday, where he took up the issue of American infrastructure and high speed rail.

Bloomberg correctly points out that thousand of miles of high speed rail are being constructed around the globe, while the United States has not one operating truly-high speed train. Countries like Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Denmark and Portugal are moving to build networks of 200+ mph trains, but this is one more area where the United States is falling behind.

Though both presidential campaigns seem reluctant to discuss infrastructure - except for Romney's promise to dismantle key pieces of America's railways - mayors around the country are quick to defend the necessity of maintaining existing passenger rail and upgrading to high speed rail. Bloomberg in particular wants to see Amtrak's vision of true high speed rail along the northeast corridor come to fruition at a $151 billion price tag. It might be expensive, but Bloomberg is right that delay costs the country more than the construction will.

Bloomberg, on the other hand, slams Amtrak's maintenance of poorly performing long-distance passenger trains and lack of focus on busier routes like the northeast corridor between Washington and Boston and California trains between San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Bloomberg neglected to mention that high speed rail is already under development in the United States - specifically, in California, where the first segment of an ultra-fast rail line spanning the entire state is ready to be constructed after a few NIMBYs hurdles are cleared.

In the mean time, meaningful upgrades to a line between Chicago and St. Louis are almost complete, and plans for a new ultra-fast train along the northeast corridor are in their early stages. Also, in Texas, a private consortium aims to be the first in the world to undertake a major infrastructure project with no public money or planning. If they are successful, they could establish a new model for infrastructure development.

It's The Same Old Song

As Amtrak prepares to celebrate another consecutive month of record ridership, demand high enough to call for the restoration of some services and train lines, presidential candidate Mitt Romney and fellow Republicans are once again calling for the end of the passenger rail service.

It is important to note that this comes as gas prices reach yet another three-month high and the spending on highways at the state and federal level reaches unsustainable levels. This is a pocketbook issue not just for many non-car owning American families who live in cities, but for the country as a whole. Movement towards more rail service is a substantial cost-saving over continued highway construction and maintenance.

This is also an emotional issue for many people. Amtrak trains, as the last vestige of American passenger rail, has become a cultural icon in the same vein as baseball and apple pie. It is a shame when  demand - and need - for passenger rail service is at an all-time high, some people want to leave American travellers waiting at the station.

Texas is preparing to open state highway 130, a limited access toll road between Austin and San Antonio that will carry traffic at speeds up to (and likely over) 85 miles-per-hour. The road comes with some pros and cons.

Insurance companies are balking over safety issues that come with higher speed limits. Since the national 55 mph speed limit was abolished in 1995, there haven't necessarily been more crashes, but the number of accidents resulting in death, severe injury and the destruction of property has gone up.

Another concern is fuel economy. When congress passed the national speed limit, it was to reduce fuel demand amidst skyrocketing gas prices. Statistically, speed is a gas guzzler - we've always known that, but recent tests by consumer reports show that high-speed driving negates much of the advantage that today's new high-mileage vehicles allow. Perhaps it is time to consider another nationwide speed limit.

That is not to say that this road is a bad thing. It is being built to reduce congestion on Interstate 35, a key north-south corridor for trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada. The road's very presence suggests that NAFTA, the controversial free trade agreement signed under the Clinton administration, is actually working. Mexico and Canada are the U.S.'s main trading partners, and as the economy recovers, trade between the three main North American nations is especially robust.

A triumphant return

This blog has been a labor of love for me, as I share an enthusiasm for rail travel and transport that has been handed down through my family for generations. As I return to the blogosphere, I look forward to rebooting it to talk about transportation issues in general around the country, not just passenger and cargo rail.

Expect to hear more about urban transportation, air infrastructure and our nation's aging highways and bridges.

I have recently moved to northern New York, in an area that is poorly served by rail lines. The lack of adequate rail service has crippled the economy of this area and left an important natural resource, the St. Lawrence Seaway, only a shadow of what it could be. That will be the subject of a coming piece.

Its good to be back.

SFGate video blog on Taipei HSR

How sad is it that the USA is falling behind countries like South Africa, Brazil and Venezuela on High Speed Rail?