Amtrak 2012 Annual Report Download - page 29

Beyond SGR: A Vision for the Future
In addition to state of good repair needs, the Northeast Corridor faces capacity constraints. Some 2,200
trains operate on the corridor on a daily basis, including Amtrak, commuter and freight trains.
Amtrak’ s New York Penn Station and the Hudson River Tunnels that feed it traffic from New Jersey are
at capacity today, and a number of other major segments are at or nearing their capacity limits, as
documented in the Northeast Corridor Infrastructure Master Plan, published in May 2010.
In addition, Amtrak faces increasing demand for service due to high fuel prices combined with congestion
and capacity constraints affecting many of the region’ s major highways and airports. This situation is
likely to worsen in coming years as growth outpaces the region’ s ability to add transportation capacity
due to funding, environmental and land constraints.
To help address these issues, Amtrak in September 2010 issued “A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the
Northeast Corridor.” The “Vision” outlined a conceptual framework and provided an initial review of the
feasibility of improving the existing NEC alignment to handle growth in regional, commuter and freight
services, while simultaneously planning and building a new, dedicated, two-track, high-speed rail
alignment between Boston and Washington to serve the fast-growing intercity rail market, provisionally
known as the NEC Next Generation High-speed Rail or “NextGen HSR” system.
This Vision is currently being further evaluated and refined so that it may serve as one of the bases for the
more significant planning efforts in FY 2012 and beyond. Amtrak has presently underway, and to be
completed by summer, a business and financial planning effort to further consider the financial feasibility
and business strategies necessary to pursue improvements set forth in the Vision. Also early in 2012, the
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is expected to begin work on a Tier 1 Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for the Northeast Corridor that will consider various alternative
development strategies and configurations for the future of the NEC with the aim of minimizing possible
environmental impacts from the improvement and expansion of NEC intercity rail service.
Amtrak expects that the concepts set forth in the Vision will be one of the major alternatives evaluated
under the PEIS. To advance these plans, Amtrak is also working closely with the Northeast Corridor
Infrastructure and Operations Advisory Commission, which is primarily made up of representatives of the
FRA, Amtrak and the Northeast states. The Commission, created under the Passenger Rail Investment
and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008, aims to help guide the EIS process and is developing policy,
funding and financing options to improve intercity passenger rail service in the Northeast.
Implementing the Vision: A Phased Approach
While it is estimated that implementing Amtrak’ s total Vision for an improved NEC complemented by a
new NextGen HSR system with a dedicated two-track alignment between Boston and Washington will
take until roughly 2040 to fully complete, significant improvements to the NEC and intercity passenger
rail service are achievable in the nearer term. Such opportunities through 2025 include targeted
improvements to the existing NEC alignment, expansion of tunnel and station capacity in New York City,
expansion of servicing facilities in Boston, MA, Queens, NY and Washington, DC and acquisition of new
rolling stock that is will provide additional capacity and improved service on the NEC in the short to
medium term.
Amtrak is currently in the initial phases of planning for these improvements, driven by the clear need for
greater NEC intercity capacity and performance in the coming years and decades.
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The initial Stair-Step Plan calls for expanding Acela Express train lengths from six to eight cars by 2016