The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length and is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency as of 2013.[2] The NEC carries more than 2,200 trains daily.[3] Branches to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Springfield, Massachusetts, though not considered part of the Northeast Corridor, see frequent service from routes that run largely on the corridor. The corridor is used by many Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela Express, intercity trains, and several long-distance trains. Most of the corridor also has frequent commuter rail service, operated by the MBTA, Shore Line East, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, SEPTA, and MARC. Several companies run freight trains over sections of the NEC. Much of the line is built for speeds higher than the 79 mph (127 km/h) maximum allowed on many U.S. tracks. Amtrak operates intercity Northeast Regional and Keystone Service trains at up to 125 mph (201 km/h), as well as North America's only high-speed train, the Acela Express, which runs up to 150 mph (240 km/h) on a few sections in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Acela covers the 225 miles (362 km) between New York and Washington, D.C., in under 3 hours, and the 229 miles (369 km) between New York and Boston in under 3.5 hours.[4][5] Under Amtrak's $151 billion Northeast Corridor plan, which hopes to roughly halve travel times by 2040, trips between New York and Washington via Philadelphia would take 94 minutes.[6][7] *the following is information about the NYC-D.C. segment of the corridor New York–Washington, D.C. Sunnyside Yard–Manhattan Transfer: Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad opened 1910.[9] Manhattan Transfer–Trenton: United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company opened 1834-1839, 1841; partially realigned 1863 and 1870. Trenton–Frankford Junction: Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad opened 1834; partially realigned 1911. Frankford Junction–Zoo Tower: Connecting Railway opened 1867.[citation needed] Zoo Tower–Grays Ferry Bridge: Junction Railroad opened 1863–1866.[citation needed] Grays Ferry–Bayview: Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad opened 1837–1838,[10] 1866, 1906.[citation needed] Bayview Yard–Baltimore Union Station: Union Railroad opened 1873.[11] Baltimore Union Station–Landover: Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road opened 1872.[12] Landover–Washington, D.C.: Magruder Branch opened 1907[13] Electrification, 1905–38 New York section The New York Central Railroad (NYC) began planning electrification between Grand Central Terminal and the split at Mott Haven after the opening of the first electrified urban rail terminal in 1900, the Gare d'Orsay in Paris, France.[citation needed] Electricity was in use on some branch lines of the NYNH&H for interurban streetcars via third rail or trolley wire. An accident in the Park Avenue Tunnel near the present Grand Central Terminal that killed 17 people on January 8, 1902, was blamed on smoke from steam locomotives; the resulting outcry led to a push for electric operation in Manhattan.[14][15][16] The NH announced in 1905 that it would electrify its main line from New York to Stamford, Connecticut. Along with the construction of the new Grand Central Terminal, opened in 1912, the NYC electrified its lines, beginning on December 11, 1906, with suburban multiple unit services to High Bridge on the Hudson Line. Electric locomotives began serving Grand Central on February 13, 1907, and all NYC passenger service into Grand Central was electrified on July 1. NH electrification began on July 24 to New Rochelle, August 5 to Port Chester and October 6, 1907, the rest of the way to Stamford. Steam trains last operated into Grand Central on June 30, 1908, after which all NH passenger trains into Manhattan were electrified. In June 1914, the NH electrification was extended to New Haven, which was the terminus of electrified service for over 80 years.[17] At the same time, the PRR was building its Pennsylvania Station and electrified approaches, which were served by the PRR's lines in New Jersey and the Long Island Rail Road(LIRR). LIRR electric service began in 1905 on the Atlantic Branch from downtown Brooklyn past Jamaica, and in June 1910 on the branch to Long Island City, part of the main line to Penn Station. Penn Station opened September 8, 1910, for LIRR trains and November 27 for the PRR; trains of both railroads were powered by DC electricity from a third rail. PRR trains changed engines (electric to/from steam) at Manhattan Transfer; passengers could also transfer there to H&M trains to downtown Manhattan. On July 29, 1911, NH began electric service on its Harlem River Branch, a suburban branch that would become the main line with the completion of the New York Connecting Railroad and its Hell Gate Bridge. The bridge opened on April 1, 1917, but was operated by steam with an engine change at Sunnyside Yard east of Penn Station until 1918. Electrification of the portion north of New Haven to Providence and Boston had been planned by the NH and authorized by the company's board of directors shortly before the United States entered World War I. This plan was not carried out because of the war and the company's financial problems. New York to Washington electrification "K" Tower, north of Washington Union Station, is the only remaining interlocking tower on the Northeast Corridor south of Philadelphia In 1905, the PRR began to electrify its suburban lines at Philadelphia, an effort that eventually led to 11kV, 25Hz AC catenary from New York and Washington.[citation needed] Electric service began in September 1915, with multiple unit trains west to Paoli on the PRR Main Line (now the Keystone Corridor).[18] Electric service to Chestnut Hill (now the Chestnut Hill West Line), including a stretch of the NEC, began March 30, 1918. Local electric service to Wilmington, Delaware, on the NEC began September 30, 1928, and to Trenton, New Jersey, on June 29, 1930. Electrified service between Exchange Place, the Jersey City terminal, and New Brunswick, New Jersey began on December 8, 1932, including the extension of Penn Station electric service from Manhattan Transfer. On January 16, 1933, the rest of the electrification between New Brunswick and Trenton opened, giving a fully electrified line between New York and Wilmington. Trains to Washington began running under electricity to Wilmington on February 12, with the engine change moved from Manhattan Transfer to Wilmington. The same was done on April 9 for trains running west from Philadelphia, with the change point moved to Paoli. In 1933, the electrification south of Wilmington was stalled by the Great Depression, but the PRR got a loan from Public Works Administration to resume work.[19] The tunnels at Baltimore were rebuilt, and electric service between New York and Washington began February 10, 1935. On April 7, the electrification of passenger trains was complete, with 639 daily trains: 191 hauled by locomotives and the other 448 under multiple-unit power. New York-Washington electric freight service began May 20 after the electrification of freight lines in New Jersey and Washington, Extensions to Potomac Yard across the Potomac River from Washington, as well as several freight branches along the way, were electrified in 1937 and 1938. The Potomac Yard retained its electrification until 1981. This should also include the MARC train lines. MARC (Maryland Area Regional Commuter) Train Service[3] (reporting mark MARC), known prior to 1984 as Maryland Rail Commuter, is a commuter rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. MARC is administered by the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA), a Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) agency, and is operated under contract by Bombardier Transportation Services USA Corporation (BTS) and Amtrak over tracks owned by CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Amtrak. With some equipment capable of reaching speeds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h), MARC is purported to be the fastest commuter railroad in the United States. Operations MARC has three lines and operates 93 trains on a typical weekday: the Brunswick Line (18 trains/19 trains on Fridays),[5] the Camden Line (21 trains),[6] and the Penn Line (57 trains).[7] The Penn Line is the only line that has weekend service, with 18 trains (comprising 9 round trips) on Saturdays, and 12 trains (comprising 6 round trips) on Sundays.[7] Service is suspended or reduced on select Federal holidays. Like most commuter rail systems in North America, all MARC trains operate in a push-pull mode, with the cab car typically leading trains traveling toward Washington. This configuration ensures that diesel locomotive fumes are kept further from the terminal at Union Station, and accommodates elevation gains by placing the locomotive at the head of trains heading outbound from Washington.[citation needed] Brunswick Line The Brunswick Line is a 74 mi (119 km) line that runs on CSX-owned tracks between Washington, D.C., and Martinsburg, West Virginia, with a 14 mi (23 km) branch to Frederick. Camden Line The Camden Line is a 39 mi (63 km) line that runs on CSX-owned tracks between Washington, D.C., and Camden Station in Baltimore. The B&O first began service over portions of this route in 1830, making it one of the oldest passenger rail lines in the U.S. still in operation.[8] Penn Line The Penn Line is a 77 mi (124 km) line that runs on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor tracks between Washington, D.C., and Perryville, Maryland, via Baltimore Penn Station. It is the fastest commuter rail line in North America, with equipment capable of operating at speeds up to 125 miles per hour (201 km/h).[4] The service was initially operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad (hence the name) and is the busiest line, carrying more passengers than the other two lines combined. The Penn Line is the only line that operates on weekends.
Well, for one, as it stands, TSW routes are incredibly short, and I suspect that it would be quite a long time before they even begin doing longer routes. Though, this route is being planned by someone in the community who has been doing some very extensive research on the route, and has also admitted that it would take a very long time, before this route in full is realized.
I didn't ask for an upvote on my post. I meant "upvote" as in "Thread author, I upvote your suggestion". I'm sorry if this caused any misunderstandings.
