The Northeast Alliance for Rail

11/21/2014

A coalition of business and civic leaders committed to improving passenger rail in the Northeast.

07/21/2014

Amtrak C.E.O. Joe Boardman is not kidding when he talks about the dangerously decrepit state of the cross-Hudson River rail tunnels

07/09/2014

As train ridership continues to grow in the United States, capacity has remained stagnant and failed to meet demand at times. Acela, Amtrak's Northeast Corridor high-speed rail service, is quickly nearing the 20-year mark, and Amtrak is taking lessons learned the first time around to improve and gro…

06/09/2014

The Walk Bridge over the Norwalk River has been struck twice in the last two weeks, causing major delays for commuters.

In response, Senator Blumenthal is requesting that the bridge open less frequently to reduce chances of failure.

NORWALK >> U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling the Coast Guard to restrict the number of times it allows a railroad swing bridge over the Norwalk River to rotate open.

05/20/2014

Audio from an event on May 14 regarding maglev technology and US - Japan collaboration.

On May 14, the Brookings Institution hosted a forum to address both the challenges and opportunities for magnetic levitation technology (maglev) in the U.S. today, as well as transportation technology as a new area for U.S.-Japan collaboration. This forum is co-sponsored by the Brookings Center…

05/09/2014

Latest blog post on the Northeast Alliance for Rail website.

Big News and Big Ideas at RPA Assembly

A coalition of business and civic leaders committed to improving passenger rail in the Northeast.

05/06/2014

Updates on Amtrak's Gateway Program were unveiled at the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition's April 28th meeting.

Updates:

The $185 million Hudson Yards ROW preservation project is progressing.

Program Development and System Level Design for gateway is currently underway.

Concept Design has begun on several projects, including Penn Station South, replacement of the "Sawtooth" bridge, Harrison station fourth track, and Elizabeth station fifth track.

Final Design and Environmental review of Portal Bride North is complete and the project is shovel ready, waiting for funding.

Preliminary Engineering and NEPA work has begun on new Hudson River Tunnels.

At the quarterly meeting of the RVRC, there was a presentation regarding updates and changes from AMTRAK.

05/05/2014

News story on Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman's remark at the Regional Plan Association's Assembly this past April 25th on the future of the Hudson River Tunnels.

"I’m being told we got something less than 20 years before we have to shut one or two down".

“Something less than 20. I don’t know if that something less than 20 is seven, or some other number. But to build two new ones, you’re talking seven to nine years to deliver, if we all decided today that we could do it."

'I’m being told we got something less than 20 years before we have to shut one or two down'

04/15/2014

More bottlenecks on the NEC being targeted for replacement.

Amtrak, in conjunction with the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), has launched a preliminary eng...

04/10/2014

Latest blog post on the Northeast Alliance website: Quantifying the Economic Value of the Northeast Corridor.

Thanks to the NEC Commission we know the current value of the Northeast Corridor, but what could it be? How much value could be added if we invested in the state of good repair backlog and expanded capacity? Examples from the UK may be the key.

A coalition of business and civic leaders committed to improving passenger rail in the Northeast.

04/08/2014

Latest report by the NEC Commission on the economic importance of the Northeast Corridor.

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) rail network between Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts is an engine of economy activity for the United States in the delivery of workers to jobs, business to clients, goods to market, and people to their friends, family, and leisure activities. Seven million job...