Dive Brief:
The Northeast Corridor Commission plans a $117 billion, 15-year upgrade of Amtrak’s Washington, D.C.-New York-Boston route to increase capacity and reduce end-to-end travel time by up to an hour. Prior to the pandemic, the Corridor handled 260 million passenger trips on eight commuter railroads and Amtrak.

The Connect 2035 program includes 150 projects and will require the collaboration of Amtrak, state governments, commuter rail agencies and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Commission calls it “the most ambitious reinvestment program in the NEC’s history.”

Cities along the Northeast Corridor could benefit from improved connections and travel time, new stations and transit-oriented development (TOD). But the program does not include regional rail projects beyond the limits of the Corridor.
More>>