Northeast Corridor

Amtrak faces a "crisis of success," unable to keep up with the growing demand for service on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak president Joseph Boardman says. "We've used up the legacy capacity of the existing railroad while further depleting its infrastructure assets, leading us to a major coming investment crisis that, without a solution, will mean strangled growth and deteriorating service," Boardman told a Senate committee Wednesday. Amtrak, setting ridership records every year, needs about $2 billion annually for upkeep and growth on the corridor, far more than the $260 million a year it has been spending, Boardman said in calling for a long-term federal plan for funding the railroad.

Amtrak's updated plan for high-speed train travel on the East Coast envisions 37-minute trips between Philadelphia and New York, after a $151 billion redevelopment of the entire Northeast Corridor. Faster service would be phased in gradually, as Amtrak improves existing tracks, signals, bridges, and power lines and then builds a separate high-speed corridor between Washington and Boston to accommodate trains traveling at 220 m.p.h. In a report released Monday, Amtrak revised its projections for costs, ridership, and the alignment of its proposed new 438-mile high-speed corridor.

Amtrak and California will work together to design new high-speed trains to operate on the East and West Coasts, rail officials said Thursday. Amtrak would get its trains first, but California's would be faster. California is planning a 220-m.p.h. high-speed line to operate between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the first 130-mile segment currently scheduled to be in operation in 2022. Amtrak wants to replace its existing Acela Express fleet with trains that can match the Acela's current top speed of 150 m.p.h.

Home to 56.3 million people, the nation's capital, and powerful financial, media and academic institutions, the Northeast region produces 20 percent of America's GDP and 27 million jobs, but is only 2 percent of the nation's landmass. The mega-sprawlopolis is most clearly defined by the intensity of its sky glow at night, light pollution symbolic of the profligate energy consumed by short-haul flights and millions of automobiles. Amtrak owns and operates the Northeast Corridor from Washington to Boston.

The Northeast Corridor, 456 miles of track between Washington and Boston, is the most heavily traveled section of rail in the country, carrying more than half of Amtrak's passengers. It's also the deadliest. On Jan. 4, 1987, a northbound Amtrak passenger train blasted into a Conrail train, killing 16 and injuring 175. Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded after a year- long investigation that the collision was caused by the "impairment from marijuana" of the engineer and brakeman of a Conrail locomotive that went through three warning signals before pulling into the path of the Amtrak train.

Amtrak officials today unveiled a vision for true high-speed service along the Northeast Corridor, with trains that could travel between Philadelphia and New York in 38 minutes. The proposed new high-speed service between Washington and Boston, with trains that could travel at 220 miles per hour, would require its own dedicated tracks and a new route north of New York away from the congested seacoast, said Amtrak president Joseph Boardman. The proposed high-speed system would cost about $117 billion and take up to 30 years to complete, according to Amtrak's proposal.

Amtrak customers who hate listening to obnoxious passengers booming into their cell phones can take heart - the railroad has expanded its "quiet car" program under which one car on Northeast Corridor trains is designated as a no-cell-phone car. The railroad announced this month that on weekdays the policy has been extended to all but three trains. The quiet cars usually will be the first coach car behind the locomotive. On weekends, no quiet cars are available. Amtrak first tried the concept in January 2000.

Amtrak hopes to make train service on its Northeast and Keystone corridors faster and more reliable with 70 new locomotives ordered from Siemens Mobility for $466 million. Siemens Mobility, a division of the German electronics and transportation giant Siemens AG, said Friday that it would assemble the locomotives at its light-rail manufacturing plant in Sacramento, Calif., with some components produced in plants in Norwood, Ohio, and Alpharetta, Ga. The first "Amtrak Cities Sprinter" locomotives, based on Siemens' "EuroSprinter" locomotives in service in Europe and elsewhere, are scheduled to be delivered in 2013.

Amtrak unveiled its version of the French bullet trains yesterday, speeding up travel starting in October for passengers in the Northeast corridor. For Philadelphians, "Acela," the new $2 billion train service that will go as fast as 150 mph, primarily chops travel time between here and Boston. The high-speed takes four hours, 28 minutes to Boston, which is two hours, 11 minutes faster than the Metroliner. The trips to Washington and New York are only minutes less than their current times.

In the Region     Two injured in W.Va. Airgas blast   Two workers were injured when gas being stored at a West Virginia industrial site operated by Airgas Inc. exploded, officials say. Airgas is headquartered in Radnor. Fire crews were sent at about 3:20 p.m. to the Airgas facility in Poca, outside of Charleston. Putnam County's emergency management director Frank Chapman said the explosion involved about 50 tanks of acetylene that were at Airgas waiting to be refilled.

Amtrak faces a "crisis of success," unable to keep up with the growing demand for service on the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak president Joseph Boardman says. "We've used up the legacy capacity of the existing railroad while further depleting its infrastructure assets, leading us to a major coming investment crisis that, without a solution, will mean strangled growth and deteriorating service," Boardman told a Senate committee Wednesday. Amtrak, setting ridership records every year, needs about $2 billion annually for upkeep and growth on the corridor, far more than the $260 million a year it has been spending, Boardman said in calling for a long-term federal plan for funding the railroad.

The Obama administration will weigh 15 alternatives for improved passenger rail service between Boston and Washington, ranging from modest upgrades to a new high-speed Northeast Corridor that would allow trips between Philadelphia and New York City in about 40 minutes. The 15 "preliminary alternatives" were unveiled Tuesday by the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA plans to come up with a single "preferred alternative" by mid-2015, complete with cost estimates and possible construction schedules.

The Obama administration will weigh 15 alternatives for improved passenger rail service between Boston and Washington, ranging from modest upgrades to a new high-speed Northeast Corridor that would allow trips between Philadelphia and New York City in about 40 minutes. The 15 "preliminary alternatives" were unveiled Tuesday by the Federal Railroad Administration. The FRA plans to come up with a single "preferred alternative" by mid-2015, complete with cost estimates and possible construction schedules.

Service on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor was halted Saturday night after a 24-year-old man was struck and killed by a northbound SEPTA Trenton line train just west of the Bristol station. SEPTA spokeswoman Jeri Williams said investigators were at the scene of the 10:34 p.m. accident. The victim was not identified.    - Alan J. Heavens

A winter storm of "potential historic proportions" threatened to bury the snow-starved Northeast on Friday and Saturday, with 1 to 2 feet forecast from the New York City area to Maine, and up to 8 inches in parts of the Philadelphia region. All along the storm's anticipated path, people rushed to stock up on food and other storm supplies, and road crews readied salt and sand. Boston and Providence, R.I., called off school on Friday, and airlines canceled more than 500 flights and counting.

Amtrak and California will work together to design new high-speed trains to operate on the East and West Coasts, rail officials said Thursday. Amtrak would get its trains first, but California's would be faster. California is planning a 220-m.p.h. high-speed line that will operate between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the first 130-mile segment currently scheduled to be in operation in 2022. Amtrak wants to buttress its existing Acela Express fleet with trains that can match the Acela's current top speed of 150 m.p.h.

Amtrak and California will work together to design new high-speed trains to operate on the East and West Coasts, rail officials said Thursday. Amtrak would get its trains first, but California's would be faster. California is planning a 220-m.p.h. high-speed line to operate between San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the first 130-mile segment currently scheduled to be in operation in 2022. Amtrak wants to replace its existing Acela Express fleet with trains that can match the Acela's current top speed of 150 m.p.h.

NHL teams will be playing almost every other night once the lockout-shortened, 48-game season starts Saturday. That suits most of the Flyers, who will begin the year with three games in four days. "I like when we play more games rather than when you play on Saturday and then don't play again until Thursday," winger Scott Hartnell said. "That week of practice gets kind of boring. You lose that momentum if you're on a hot streak. " The Flyers will start the season Saturday against visiting Pittsburgh and end it on April 27 in Ottawa.