Amtrak has reached tentative agreement with private developers in Manhattan to construct an 800-foot-long box tunnel on site at the 26-acre Hudson Yards development site on Manhattan’s West Side. The tunnel would act as a placeholder for eventual expansion of Northeast Corridor capacity under the Hudson River, Amtrak’s Gateway Tunnel project.
Monterey County, Calif., is considering a proposal to extend rail service roughly 60 miles south of San Jose, in Santa Clara County, to Salinas, Calif.—in essence adding to the heavily used Capitol Corridor intercity rail service area.
MTA Metro-North Railroad could make access to Manhattan’s Pennsylvania Station an official priority in its next five-year capital construction program to be released in 2014, despite decades of obstructions confronting the railroad.
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has advanced a fiscal year 2014 state budget with funding for restored passenger rail service between Rutland and Burlington, running north-south on the Green Mountain State’s western flank.
Allaying fears of cutbacks on Amtrak’s Empire Corridor service linking Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Albany, and New York City, New York State says it will maintain existing Amtrak service levels with $44.3 million in state support beginning Oct. 1.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell on Thursday singled out a rail priority among numerous projects unveiled on Wednesday: restored passenger rail service to Roanoke, Va., in the state’s western reaches. McDonnell’s interest drew praise from Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman.
One clause in a single sentence in President Obama’s second inaugural speech has potential for meaningful consequences: “Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce.”
Two U.S. high speed rail players, Amtrak and the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), will combine efforts to advance a joint order of up to 62 high speed rail trainsets, with a Request for Information (RFI) possibly issued as early as this Thursday.