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> Acela (our high-speed intercity train) makes the 39 mile Washington to Baltimore trip (with a single stop in-between) at 68 miles per hour. That's not necess
by geezerjay 8y ago
> Acela (our high-speed intercity train) makes the 39 mile Washington to Baltimore trip (with a single stop in-between) at 68 miles per hour.
That's not necessarily a fair comparison, as IIRC Amtrack shares rail tracks with cargo trains. Cargo trains are far slower and occupy tracks for longer stretches of time, while passenger trains require longer stretches of track to be reserved for their passage to ensure higher circulation speeds. Thus, having to share tracks with slower trains limits how the track can be allocated to passenger traffic.
To put it differently, that would be like stating that a bus is slow because in some stretches of road it is forced to wait cargo trucks to pass.
- rayiner 8y agoAmtrak owns the Boston-DC segment and does not share with freight rail.
- geezerjay 8y ago> Amtrak owns the Boston-DC segment and does not share with freight rail. Wikipedia says that several companies run freight trains over sections of the NEC, as well as the line is also used by commuter trains. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Corridor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Corridor As a comparison, the TGV connection between Paris and Brussels may be a high-speed track, but train speeds grind to a halt way down to 20km/h when passing through track sections used by commuter and freight trains.