U.S. System Summary: NORTHEAST CORRIDOR
          Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail System (Source: NEC Future)
        The Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system is an          the Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system are part of 
        existing system containing 669 miles of routes in three      the federally-designated Northeast Corridor High-Speed 
        segments across the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic U.S.       Rail Corridor.  Amtrak, the U.S. national railroad passen-
        states, encompassing major U.S. cities including Boston,     ger corporation, owns a majority of the right-of-way in the 
        MA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Washington,          two segments of the Northeast Corridor high-speed rail 
        D.C.  High-speed rail service is currently Operational       system between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.  
        in the two segments between Boston, MA, and Wash-            Due to the high density of development along the route, 
        ington, D.C., with train speeds up to 150 mph between        most improvements to operational high-speed rail service 
        Boston and New York and up to 135 mph between New            would likely be contained within the existing Northeast 
        York and Washington, D.C.  A second, alternative route       Corridor (NEC) right-of-way.  The latest proposed “Next 
        segment between Boston, MA, and New York, NY, has            Gen” route, however, calls for constructing new railroad 
        been outlined in Amtrak’s most recent plan update and        infrastructure over a new, shorter route between Boston 
        is currently in the Proposed stage.  All three segments of   and New York with maximum train speeds up to 220 mph.
                                                                   U.S. HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM SUMMARY: NORTHEAST CORRIDOR   |   1
         SyStem DeScription anD HiStory
         System Description
         The Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system consists of three segments, as summarized below.
         Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail System Segment Characteristics
          Segment Description                        Distance      Segment Status      Designated Corridor?      Segment Population
          Boston, MA, to New York, NY (Shoreline)    231 Miles       Operational                Yes                   19,508,811
          Boston, MA, to New York, NY (Next Gen)     212 Miles        Proposed                  Yes                   20,721,192
          New York, NY, to Washington, D.C.          226 Miles       Operational                Yes                   28,348,493
         The Boston, MA, to New York, NY, segment of the North-             average speed of approximately 86 mph.  Amtrak owns the 
         east Corridor high-speed rail system is described as  two          entire 226-mile segment.  Amtrak’s conventional North-
         segments: a “Shoreline” segment and a Next Gen segment.            east Regional trains also operate over the same corridor at 
         The Shoreline segment is 231 miles in length and connects          slower speeds.  The total population of communities served 
         Boston and New York via Providence, RI; New London,                by existing Acela Express service along this segment was 
         CT, New Haven, CT, and Stamford, CT.  Existing high-               28,348,493 in 2010.
         speed rail service on the Shoreline segment is currently 
         operated by Amtrak’s Acela Express electric high-speed             System History
         rail service over existing right-of-way owned by Amtrak            Development of high-speed intercity passenger rail service 
         or local commuter rail transit agencies.  The Acela Express        in the Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system dates 
         achieves a maximum speed of 150 mph in three sections              back to the High-Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965, 
         totaling approximately 34 miles of the 231-mile segment,           which authorized more than $51 million for improvements 
         with an overall average speed of approximately 62 mph.             to the NEC route.  At that time, the line was owned by the 
         Amtrak’s conventional Northeast Regional trains operate            Pennsylvania Railroad, who had electrified the New York 
         over the same corridor, although at slower overall speeds.         to Washington, D.C., segment in the early 1930s.  Initial 
         The total population of communities served by existing             high-speed train demonstration projects were implement-
         Acela Express service along this segment was 19,508,811 in         ed by the Penn Central Railroad on both segments of the 
         2010.  The Next Gen alignment, proposed by Amtrak as a             corridor in the late 1960s, and these projects were shifted to 
         future improvement plan to service in the New York-Bos-            Amtrak when it took over U.S. passenger train operations 
         ton segment of the NEC, is 212 miles in length and con-            in May 1971.  In 1976, as part of the Penn Central restruc-
         nects Boston and New York via Providence, RI, Hartford,            turing into Conrail, ownership of the Northeast Corridor 
         CT, and New Rochelle, NY.  The Next Gen segment defini-            right-of-way was transferred to Amtrak.  The Northeast 
         tion is inspired by Amtrak’s A Vision for High-Speed Rail          Corridor Improvement Project was also initiated in 1976, 
         in the Northeast Corridor, which proposes next generation          with $1.6 billion authorized for improvements across the 
         electric high-speed rail service over a combination of new         Boston to Washington, D.C., route.  The improvement 
         right-of-way and existing Northeast Corridor alignment             project was successful at reducing trip times along the cor-
         with maximum speeds of 220 mph.  The total population              ridor and other capacity improvements.
         of communities being considered for proposed Amtrak 
         Next-Gen high-speed rail service along this segment was            In the early 1990s, further improvement projects were au-
         20,721,192 in 2010.                                                thorized and funded, laying the groundwork for the imple-
                                                                            mentation of true high-speed rail along the entire corridor.  
         The New York, NY, to Washington, D.C., segment of the              In July 1994, the Federal Railroad Administration pub-
         Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system described in             lished The Northeast Corridor Transportation Plan: New 
         this summary is 226 miles in length and includes ma-               York City to Boston, in which it outlined the plan for elec-
         jor communities such as Newark, NJ; Philadelphia, PA;              trification of the Boston to New York segment of the cor-
         Wilmington, DE; and Baltimore, MD, along the route.                ridor and other improvements needed to implement mod-
         The Amtrak Acela Express high-speed rail service also              ern high-speed rail along the corridor.  In December 2000, 
         currently operates over this segment, with train speeds            after a number of delays, the Acela Express high-speed rail 
         reaching up to 135 mph along portions of the route with an         service was inaugurated by Amtrak in the Northeast Cor-
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         Acela Express High-Speed Train Operating on Existing NEC (Source: Bombardier)
         ridor between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.                  high-speed rail system in the Northeast Corridor.  The first 
         Ridership on the Acela Express has grown steadily in more             step, called the NEC Upgrade Program (or NEC-UP), is a 
         than a decade of service, and the route is the flagship of the        set of proposed projects that would provide a maximum 
         Amtrak national intercity passenger rail network.                     authorized speed of 160 mph across the Northeast Corri-
                                                                               dor, increase capacity in constrained areas of the line, and 
         In May 2010, the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure Master             bring the corridor into a state of good repair.  The NEC-
         Plan was released.  The Master Plan was developed by a                UP program would be completed between 2015 and 2025 
         region-wide collaboration, which included 12 Northeast-               and lay the groundwork for the second program step, the 
         ern states, the District of Columbia, Amtrak, the Federal             NEC Next-Generation High-Speed Rail (NEC NextGen 
         Railroad Administration, eight commuter rail operators,               HSR).  The NEC NextGen HSR program would be com-
         and three freight railroads operating in the Northeast Cor-           pleted between 2025 and 2040 and includes as its center-
         ridor.  Initiated in 2007, the Master Plan reflects existing          piece a new, dedicated high-speed intercity passenger rail 
         goals and plans for rail operations in the Northeast Cor-             alignment between New Rochelle, NY, and Providence, 
         ridor through 2030, and outlines infrastructure projects              RI.  The proposed alignment (called the Boston to New 
         that would be necessary to meet those goals.  In September            York Next Gen segment in this summary) would deviate 
         2010, Amtrak released a report entitled A Vision for High-            from Amtrak’s existing  route (called the Shoreline seg-
         Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor.  In this report, Am-            ment in this summary) and would be a more direct route 
         trak outlined its proposal for a next-generation high-speed           between New York and Boston resulting in additional re-
         rail system covering a new Boston to New York “Next Gen”              duced travel time.  Between New York and Washington, 
         high-speed passenger rail segment and the existing New                D.C., the proposed NEC NextGen HSR would generally 
         York to Washington, D.C., segment.  In July 2012, Am-                 follow Amtrak’s existing right-of-way.  As proposed, the 
         trak released an update to the 2010 Vision Plan.  The 2012            NEC NextGen HSR service would operate using electric-
         update report consolidated the projects outlined in the               powered trains at a maximum speed of 220 mph, reducing 
         Master Plan and the 2010 Vision Plan with a Business &                travel times between Boston and New York from 214 min-
         Financial Plan developed in 2011 by Amtrak for its North-             utes in 2010 to 94 minutes in 2040 if implemented. Travel 
         east Corridor high-speed rail services.                               times between New York and Washington, D.C. would be 
                                                                               reduced from 160 minutes to 94 minutes under the Next 
         Amtrak’s July 2012 update report outlined a “stair-step”              Gen plan.
         phasing strategy for implementing its proposed Next-Gen 
                                                                            U.S. HIGH-SPEED RAIL SYSTEM SUMMARY: NORTHEAST CORRIDOR   |   3
         Union Station, Washington, D.C.
         Recently, the Federal Railroad Administration initiated            passenger train service between the metropolitan areas of 
         planning studies for major long-term improvement of                Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia, PA; New York, NY; and 
         high-speed intercity passenger rail in the Northeast Cor-          Boston, MA.  The NEC had not been previously considered 
         ridor high-speed rail system.  A major component of this           for federally-designated corridor status because the origi-
         effort is a Tier 1 environmental impact statement (EIS) to         nal intent of the federally-designated high-speed rail cor-
         address the broad environmental effects of improved pas-           ridors program was to provide funding for highway-rail 
         senger rail service and related construction activities.  In       grade crossing improvements, and very few such cross-
         January 2012, the White House Council on Environmental             ings remained on the NEC when the program was estab-
         Quality selected the Northeast Corridor Tier 1 EIS project         lished in 1991.  With the creation of new high-speed rail 
         to be included in a pilot project aimed at identifying ineffi-     funding programs in the Passenger Rail Investment and 
         ciencies and expediting the environmental review process           Improvement Act of 2008 and those programs requiring 
         for transportation projects.  As of July 2012, the Tier 1 EIS      federally-designated corridor status for funding eligibility, 
         study has been initiated as part of a comprehensive plan-          designation of the Northeast Corridor as the 11th federal-
         ning effort for the corridor known as NEC FUTURE.  The             ly-designated high-speed rail corridor was a necessary step 
         NEC FUTURE program will also include a service devel-              in the further development of high-speed rail improve-
         opment plan for the corridor.                                      ments in the corridor.
         Federally-Designated Corridors                                     Existing Intercity Passenger Rail Service
         The entire Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system de-           The Northeast Corridor high-speed rail system region 
         scribed in this summary is part of the federally-designated        is the busiest rail transportation corridor in the U.S.  
         Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Corridor (NEC).                 More than 150 Amtrak trains use portions of the exist-
         The  NEC achieved federally-designated corridor status             ing corridor on a typical weekday, with operations in-
         on March 14, 2011, per announcement by U.S. DOT Sec-               cluding Acela Express premium high-speed rail service, 
         retary Ray LaHood.  The designation includes the existing          Northeast Regional high-speed rail service, Keystone Ser-
         NEC mainline and any alternative routings for intercity            vice and other corridor trains, and long-distance trains.  
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