America’s High-Speed Track to Modernization
President Biden stands in front of an Amtrak train in Baltimore after a speech on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on January 30, 2023 Photo courtesy of Adam Schulz.
Amtrak’s upgraded Acela train cars, which were expected to carry passengers along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in 2024, are already a year behind schedule. Acela is Amtrak’s flagship rail service from Boston to Washington D.C., offering spacious seats and quicker travel times. As part of an overall $2.45 billion investment in upgrading Acela, the new trains will be expected to increase top speeds along the route to 160 mph from 150 mph along with providing travelers with a more “elevated” experience.
Despite representing a notable increase in passenger rail investment, this upgrade to Acela’s fleet cannot compensate for the foundational limitations on the speed and efficiency of trains passing through the NEC, and accomplishes little in the way of developing a useful and pragmatic high-speed rail service.
The NEC, originally built by several railroad companies from 1830 and 1917, has major structural issues that limit the speeds of trains travelling along the route. The NEC is composed of various hundred-year old aging drawbridges, sharp curves along rural Connecticut’s shoreline, and the B&P Tunnel under Baltimore’s streets dating back to 1837. Most of the NEC’s catenary–the system of overhead wires providing electricity to moving trains–is around 80 years old and is one of the main reasons why Amtrak’s Acela operates so slowly. These structures are so limiting on train speeds along the route that, in some cases, trains are forced to operate as low as 30-80 mph. Given the unaddressed structural issues, the new upgraded train cars will be unable to make significant use of their 160 mph top speed. As an example, current Acela trains, despite having a maximum operating speed of 150 mph, travel an average of 65 mph between NYC and Boston. This brings the total duration of the 217 mile trip to 3.5 hours and lags behind true high-speed systems like Japan’s Shinkansen bullet train which can run up to 200 mph, allowing people to travel the 309 miles between Osaka and Tokyo in just under 2.5 hours. As such, a path forward for high-speed rail in the NEC requires a significant effort to revitalize infrastructure and reduce the impact of structural limitations on operating capabilities.
The Connect 2037 report published by the Northeast Corridor Commission details a plan for necessary funding and infrastructural development required to address the aging infrastructure problem, create additional service capacity, and build a “resilient railroad network for the future.” Vital projects in the plan, such as upgrading the Connecticut River Bridge and other aging structures, are expected to increase operating speeds across the board. The commission projects that the total cost of select structural improvements and project development over the next 15 years would amount to $175 billion (accounting for expected inflation in year of expenditure). One of the most significant appropriations toward this funding goal, the Biden Administration’s 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has earmarked $24 billion out of the $44 billion appropriated for Federal Railway Association discretionary grants for NEC bridges, tunnels, capital renewal, and other improvements. Overall, around 40 percent of the Connect 2037 budget is already accounted for through existing appropriations on the federal, state, and local levels, leaving around $100 billion unaccounted for.
Although these currently funded investments are a step towards realizing a true high-speed rail system in the NEC, more must be done by government officials to fund critical projects needed to upgrade the corridor. Upgrading the NEC by renewing aging structures, straightening out key curves, and building new alignments outside of the existing right of way will let high-speed trains operate at greater average speed. Further, these upgrades will mitigate the issue of limited capacity stemming from sharing tracks with slower commuter and freight rail, allowing the nation to enjoy the benefits of true high-speed rail.
$175 billion is a hefty price tag; but such an investment will provide Northeastern residents and the American taxpayer with a substantial return on investment. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was one small step towards this goal, but additional rail-focused investments will be necessary to finalize the projects detailed in the Connect 2037 report. The creation of a more comprehensive, efficient, and competitive high-speed rail industry in the NEC will create more opportunities for economic growth and sustainability.
An example of such opportunities can be seen in the Brightline West project, a development connecting Las Vegas with Southern California via fully electric high-speed rail. The project broke ground earlier this year and is expected to launch service before the 2028 Olympic Games. It projects a $10 billion overall economic impact, the creation of thousands of jobs, and a $1 billion increase in tax revenues. Additionally, its fully electric trains, powered mainly through emission-free sources, and expected ridership of 9 million one-way passengers annually are expected to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by 400,000 or more tons annually and decrease vehicle miles traveled per year by approximately 700 million.
These benefits pale in comparison to what could be realized if the NEC invests in true high-speed rail. Brightline West connects two metro areas, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, with a combined metro area population of approximately 20 million. By contrast the population of those living within a 50-mile radius of the NEC is approximately 50 million. Improving NEC infrastructure has the potential to support a greater number of travelers and commuters to the millions of jobs within miles of NEC Amtrak stations. These benefits stem from upgrades in rail efficiency and average speeds over antiquated sections of track, ultimately increasing reliability and lowering travel times.
An increase in service and efficiency will also benefit commuters who generally rely on cars or planes. Although air travel holds the slight upper hand in total travel time between Boston, New York, and Washington D.C., the benefits of travel by rail persist. Travel by rail, compared to air travel, maintains an advantage in the time commuters spend in vehicles, allowing passengers to increase productivity by eliminating time spent in TSA lines. Unlike current Acela trains hindered by track inefficiencies, the adaptation of NEC infrastructure to accommodate true high-speed trains will help passengers save more time and reduce overall emissions by further incentivizing rail travel. Amtrak’s share in the air-rail market (the market for air and rail travel in these regions) grew 46% between Washington D.C. and New York and 50% between Boston and New York from 2000 to 2021, with room to grow: a recent survey found that 77% of Northeastern voters support the development of a national high-speed rail network (compared to 60% of registered voters nationwide).
Despite the major benefits resulting from increased public investment in the NEC, some public officials remain hesitant. One major reason for this is Amtrak’s unprofitability since its founding in 1971, as the agency has relied on state subsidies to stay afloat and provide service. But the mission of Amtrak is not to be a for-profit corporation but rather, as outlined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to “use its best business judgment in acting to maximize the benefits of Federal investments.” This includes “offering competitive fares” and “providing economic benefits to the community it serves.” As such, high-speed rail and Amtrak should not be viewed as ways for the government to generate revenue but instead to support the economic and sustainable development of America, just like the interstate highway system.
There has been additional pushback on some of the proposed improvements to the corridor’s efficiency, especially throughout Connecticut due to “NIMBY” (“Not In My Backyard”) concerns from residents worried that the project may disrupt their daily lives. For example, a proposal to run sections of high-speed track between Old Saybrook, CT and Rhode Island faced opposition from Southeastern Connecticut residents who argued they didn’t benefit directly from the lines improvements to long distance inter-city travel.
As the NEC continues to deteriorate, Americans must seize this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to economic growth, environmental sustainability, and interconnectedness by investing in modernized infrastructure fit for the 21st century. Although the implementation of high-speed rail in the NEC will be costly and time-consuming, its numerous improvements on people’s lives in the region and across the country merit effort and patience. This investment will pay off dividends by boosting regional and national economies, reducing transportation-related carbon emissions, and providing commuters with more convenient travel options in a way that Acela, in its current state, cannot. Through these paths, such a project can serve as a spark needed to push the development of a modernized high-speed rail infrastructure throughout the rest of the country, ultimately allowing America to cement itself as an economic, environmental, and infrastructural leader of the twenty-first century.
Marcello Maturi (CC ’28) is a staff writer at CPR and a freshman from Norwalk, CT. He enjoys studying American politics, international relations, history, and music.