TRENTON, N.J. — Amtrak is going to break the speed limit in the Northeast Corridor.
The rail service announced Monday it will operate test trains overnight at 165 mph in four stretches from Maryland to Massachusetts.
Acela Express equipment will be used for the tests, which were to start at about 10:30 p.m. Monday in New Jersey and will continue into next week, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said.
All the locations may one day have regular 160 mph service; the current top speed limit is 150 mph.
Amtrak said tests need to be performed at 5 mph above what is expected to be the maximum operating speed.
Two test locations — from Perryville, Md., to Wilmington, Del., and from Trenton to New Brunswick, N.J. — currently have a speed limit of 135 mph. The two others — in Rhode Island from Westerly to Cranston and in Massachusetts from South Attleboro to Readville — have 150 mph limits.
The same areas, totaling just over 100 miles, were used for tests reaching 165 mph in the 1990s before the introduction of high-speed Acela service, Cole said. Federal regulations required another round of testing, he said, to further raise the top speed limit.
Cole said the tests, with cars equipped with instruments to collect a variety of data, will not affect normal rail operations because they are scheduled at a time of minimal rail service.
In New Jersey, track, electric power, signals and other systems are to be upgraded over the next several years to improve reliability and to permit regular train operations at faster speeds, as part of a $450 million project funded by the federal high-speed rail program.
HELL ON WHEELS!
Steam train that halled freight would travel at 100 mph
I didn’t think it fit but “FRIGHT” seems to be the right word.
sounds exciting, but then you see they already have a 135 or 150 mph speed limit on these sections of track…
the big problem with Amtrak in the east is how much track it has to share with freight. When Amtrak leases track from freight companies they don’t always have priority and have to stop at sidings to let other trains pass.
I travel Amtrak in the Washington to Boston corridor and freight is not on the same track. That track for passenger trains is shared only with Amtrak and commuter rails. But south of Washington it is shared with CSX and that is a major problem. Also of course it is shared in southern Maine and New Hampshire.
I know that Boston to DC has dedicated track. thats why there is “high” speed between Boston to DC. Maine is out of luck, and so are other eastern cities (western PA, upstate NY, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, etc)
The Amtrak never has priority over the freight trains I was told. Someone told me the Amtrak going West was a lot better.
I smell a derailment….
DUCK !!!
I hope that someday Amtrak will expand it’s service to the Bangor area.
and some day pigs will fly too. I doubt the Bangor area will ever have enough demand for amtrak, especially since Concord coach is whats called a “thruway carrier”. The union street bus station is already considered part of the amtrak network.
It won’t happen (sadly) in our lifetime dianne. I know officials at Amtrak and anytime I’ve inquired they’ve said it’s not even a thought at this time.
not enough demand to fill a train
With the “only bums ride the bus” attitude up here against public transportation, it’ll never happen.
How can you safely test a big ole scary train at 165mph? It either works or it don’t and if it doesn’t………………………..
Just being snarky but I sure hope the rails will take that kind of speed. A lot of the rails in the Bangor area aren’t safe at 5 or 10 mph.
european’s & asian’s have trains that travel almost twice that speed yet we seem to be stuck in tha dark ages
Yes, but we have some moon dust and they don’t. We know where to spend the money.
I travelled 180 mph regularly on the Shinkansen trains in Japan, why are we we so far behind the curve?
I’ve ridden the TGV in France but I think both railways were designed or modified for those speeds.
because people are brainwashed to think taxes are theft and cars/highways magically fund themselves
Going 165 miles an hour is a bit much. They better check the rails this wreck will ride on. The last time I rode Amtrak the train itself wasn’t too bad it was the people on the train that was suppose to help you with your sleeping arrangements, dining and controlling the temperature on some of the cars. Then you have to contend with going on to a siding so a freight train can pass. My husband and I rode the train from Savannah to Boston. It took 3 days because of layovers. Also the train does not stick to any kind of schedule.
It’s about time, Send it through Portland, Bangor, and all the way to Quebec!
you thought we had train/truck derailments now , wait till you see this , more accidents on railroad crossings because people are in a hurry to go nowwhere.
I would like to see them try those speeds up here in the county lol.