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Northeast Corridor

Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Northeast Corridor

This article is about a railroad line. For the agglomeration of metropolitan areas, see BosWash. For the New Jersey Transit operation along part of the line, see Northeast Corridor Line.

The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States by ridership and service frequency. The route is fully electrified and serves a densely urbanized string of cities from Washington, DC in the south through Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City to Boston. It also has branches connecting Philadelphia with Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; New Haven, Connecticut with Springfield, Massachusetts; New York City with Albany, New York, and several other commuter destinations. The busiest passenger rail station in the United States is Penn Station in New York City, the central hub of the Northeast Corridor.

The NEC is immediately identified by the use of overhead wires and high speed rolling stock. Mostly operated and owned by Amtrak, the NEC offers the only true high-speed rail service in the United States, Amtrak's Acela Express. Several commuter rail agencies provide local service along the Northeast Corridor, some electrified and some diesel-powered. These rail networks include MARC in Maryland, SEPTA in Pennsylania, NJ Transit in New Jersey, Metro-North in New York and Connecticut, Shore Line East in Connecticut, and MBTA in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Contents

Current passenger services

Amtrak Northeast Corridor
services
The Acela brand
Acela Express
Metroliner
Regional
(including Virginia and NHV-SPG)
Former services: Clocker
Other Amtrak trains on the NEC:
Cardinal - Carolinian - Crescent
Keystone - Palmetto - Pennsylvanian
Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Vermonter
Commuter services on the NEC:
MBTA - SLE - MNRR - NJT
SEPTA R7 - SEPTA R2 - MARC
[http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit this box]
As of mid-December 2004, 55 round-trip Amtrak trains use the busiest part of the Corridor, between New York and Philadelphia, every weekday, with an extra one on Wednesday and Friday (Cardinal). 349 round trips use this part per week.

The following Amtrak services run along the Northeast Corridor:

Other services using the NEC:

Non-Amtrak commuter rail services

In addition to Amtrak, several commuter rail agencies operate passenger service using the Northeast Corridor tracks.

Ownership

An electric Amtrak train speeding through New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor.
Enlarge
An electric Amtrak train speeding through New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor.

Track

With primarily passenger services, the Northeast Corridor is a cooperative venture between Amtrak and various state agencies. Amtrak currently owns the Northeast Corridor between Washington and New Rochelle, New York. The segment of the NEC between New Rochelle and New Haven, Connecticut is owned by the States of New York and Connecticut and operated by the Metro-North Railroad. Amtrak also owns the section between New Haven and the Rhode Island-Massachusetts state line, and operates the section to Boston, owned by the State of Massachusetts and originally operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Amtrak's ownership and upkeep of the line has recently become controversial due to intermittent power failures and other problems. [link] These outages have caused delays of both Amtrak and state commuter trains lasting up to five hours. Railroad officials have blamed Amtrak's funding woes for the deterioration of the track. [link], [link]

In June of 2006, rain conditions caused service south of Washington, DC and between Washington and Philadelphia to be cancelled http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5077437.

Stations

Amtrak owns Pennsylvania Station in New York, 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Penn Station in Baltimore, and Union Station in Washington.

Freight service

Freight service is provided on the Northeast Corridor by trackage rights. The Norfolk Southern Railway operates over the line south of Philadelphia, and CSX Transportation has rights from New York to New Haven and in Massachusetts. Between Philadelphia and New York, Conrail, which formerly provided service on the whole line, still operates over the line, as a local switching and terminal company for both CSX and Norfolk Southern. The Providence and Worcester Railroad operates local freight service from New Haven into Rhode Island and has overhead trackage rights from New Haven to New York.

History

Unlike most European high-speed rail lines, built on new rights-of-way, the NEC uses existing lines built as early as the 1830s; the most recent section, the Hell Gate Bridge and New York Connecting Railroad in New York, opened in 1917. From 1893, when the NYNH&H acquired the Old Colony Railroad, including the Providence-Boston section of the NEC, the NEC has been owned by two companies - the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) from Washington to New York and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) from New York to Boston. Under the PRR and NYNH&H, the lines were known as the Philadelphia-to-Washington Main Line, Philadelphia-to-New York Main Line and Shore Line.

In 1968 the PRR merged with its former rival, the New York Central Railroad, to form Penn Central Transportation. The NYNH&H was merged into Penn Central in 1969, bringing the whole Washington-Boston corridor under control of one company. With the 1971 formation of Amtrak, the intercity passenger services were under government control. In 1976 the bankrupt Penn Central was taken over by the government corporation Conrail, and the sections of line that had not already been sold to commuter transportation authorities were sold to Amtrak.

New York electrification

The electrification projects of the steam railroads in the area which is now the NEC began with the Park Avenue Tunnel of the New York and Harlem Railroad, part of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad (NYC) to its Grand Central Terminal in New York, and also used by the NYNH&H via trackage rights. With the 1900 opening of the Gare d'Orsay in Paris, France. the first electrified urban rail terminal in the world, a new technology was available, and the NYC began planning for electrification between Grand Central and the split at Mott Haven. Electricity was already in use on various branch lines of the NYNH&H, but was provided to interurban streetcars via third rail or trolley wire.

Low visibility caused by the air pollution of the steam locomotives used at the time caused an accident killing 17 on January 8, 1902, and the resulting public outcry led to a push for electric operation in Manhattan. In 1905 the NYNH&H announced 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 service to High Bridge on the Hudson Line. Electric locomotives began serving Grand Central February 13, 1907, and all NYC passenger service into Grand Central was electrified July 1. NYNH&H electrification began 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 NYNH&H passenger trains into Manhattan were electrified. On June 22, 1914 the NYNH&H electrification was extended to New Haven, where it would end for many years.

At the same time, the PRR was building its Pennsylvania Station and electrified approaches, 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 Avenue Line 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, which changed engines and had platforms for transferring at Manhattan Transfer.

On July 29, 1911 the NYNH&H began electric service on its Harlem River Branch, a suburban branch that would become a 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.

Philadelphia electrification

In 1905, the PRR announced that it would electrify its suburban lines at Philadelphia, eventually extending it all the way between New York and Washington. Electric service began September 11, 1915 with multiple unit trains west to Paoli on the PRR main line (now the Keystone Corridor). Electric service to Chestnut Hill (now the R8 Chestnut Hill West), including a stretch of the NEC, began March 30, 1918. Local electric service to Wilmington, Delaware on the NEC began September 30, 1928, and the other way to Trenton, New Jersey on June 29, 1930.

NEC southern section: New York to Washington

PRR electric service began between Exchange Place, the Jersey City terminal, and New Brunswick, New Jersey on December 8, 1932, including the extension of Penn Station electric service from Manhattan Transfer. On January 16, 1933 the rest of the electrifcation, between New Brunswick and Trenton, opened, giving a fully electrified intercity line between New York and Philadelphia, and beyond to Wilmington. Through trains to Washington began running under electricity to Wilmington 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 stalled due to the Great Depression, but the PRR managed to get a loan from the federal government, and resumed work the next year. The tunnels at Baltimore were rebuilt, and electric revenue service between New York and Washington began February 10, 1935. On April 7 the electrification of all New York-Washington passenger trains was complete, with 639 daily trains, 191 locomotive-hauled and the other 448 multiple unit. New York-Washington electric freight service began May 20 with 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 electrifcation remained until 1981.

NEC northern section: New York to Boston

Electrification of the portion north of New Haven to Providence and Boston was planned by the NYNH&H, and authorized by the company's board of directors shortly before the U.S. entered World War I. This plan was not carried out because of the war and because of the company's financial problems. Decades later, a project for electrification between New Haven and Boston was included in a bill signed by President Gerald Ford in 1976. The project stalled after 1980 because of opposition from the Reagan Administration.

Penn Central and Amtrak: forming the NEC

Despite the New York Connecting Railroad and Hell Gate Bridge joining the two segments, they were operated almost entirely independently of each other until the merger of the PRR and NYNH&H into Penn Central Transportation in 1968 and 1969 respectively, and the establishment of Amtrak in 1971. On September 21, 1970 all New York-Boston trains but the Turboservice were rerouted into Penn Station from Grand Central, and the Turboservice was moved February 1, 1971. Amtrak, which took over intercity service on May 1, 1971, soon began running more trains through New York, partly due to poor maintenance at Sunnyside Yard.[#endnote_sunnysidesucks]

At the same time, rail freight service in New England was declining. The February 26, 1975 Preliminary System Plan for Conrail proposed abandoning all freight on the Shore Line (NEC) between Groton, Connecticut and Hills Grove, Rhode Island. However, on March 14, the U.S. Railway Association announced that it had reevaluated the line segment and would be keeping it in operation.[#endnote_FSP]

The State of New York bought and the State of Connecticut leased their sections of the New Haven Line, between Woodlawn, New York and New Haven, Connecticut, from Penn Central on January 1, 1971; the Metropolitan Transportation Authority operated the line. On January 27, 1973 the State of Massachusetts bought the Attleboro/Stoughton Line in Massachusetts for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.↑  The Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973 provided for Amtrak to purchase the NEC, and all other NEC trackage passed to Amtrak on April 1, 1976 with the formation of Conrail, with Conrail trackage rights on the full line. Except between New Haven and the Rhode Island/Massachusetts line, which were sold to the Providence and Worcester Railroad, those rights remained until the 1999 breakup of Conrail, when they were split between the Norfolk Southern Railway to the south and CSX Transportation to the north. Amtrak now operates and maintains the portion in Massachusetts, but the line from New Haven to New Rochelle, New York is operated by the Metro-North Railroad; this has been a problem with establishment of high-speed service.

Preparing for Acela Express

In preparation for the new higher-speed Acela Express trains, Amtrak substantially upgraded the portion of the Northeast Corridor north of New York in the early 1990s. Grade crossings were eliminated, some bridges were rebuilt, and curves were modified. Beginning in 1996, the electrification was extended north along the 157-mile (253 km) section of track between New Haven and Boston. Wooden sleepers (railroad ties) were replaced with those made of concrete and heavier Continuous welded rail (CWR) (replacing the Jointed track) was laid down. Train platforms south of New York, originally constructed for the Metroliner multiple-unit cars of the late 1960's, were rebuilt to accommodate the new cars. Platforms north of New York had to be constructed completely from scratch.

Predecessor NEC railroads

For a more detailed history of the Northeast Corridor, and the earlier railroads operating along it, see the following articles:

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad lines
NYNH&H and PRR jointly owned line
  • New York Connecting Railroad, Port Morris to Sunnyside Yard (opened 1917)
    • Pennsylvania Railroad lines
  • Pennsylvania Tunnel and Terminal Railroad, Sunnyside Yard to Kearny Junction, New Jersey (opened 1910)
  • United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company, Kearny Junction to Trenton, New Jersey (opened 1834-1839; connection in Trenton to P&T by 1841; realignment Monmouth Junction to Trenton, 1863; realignment in Harrison and Newark, 1870)
  • Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad, Trenton to Frankford Junction, Pennsylvania (opened 1834)
  • Connecting Railway, Frankford Junction to Zoo Tower, Pennsylvania (opened 1867)
  • Junction Railroad, Zoo Tower to Grays Ferry, Pennsylvania (opened 1863-1866)
  • Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, Grays Ferry to Bayview Yard, Maryland (opened 1837-1838; Susquehanna River bridge, 1866)
  • Union Railroad, Bayview Yard to Baltimore Union Station (opened 1873)
  • Baltimore and Potomac Rail Road, Baltimore Union Station to Landover, Maryland (opened 1872-1873)
  • Washington Terminal Company, Landover to Washington, D.C. (opened 1907)

    • Grade crossings

    Due to the high-speed nature of Acela Express service, which uses the whole line, grade crossings are highly discouraged, and most have been eliminated, mostly started after 1976 south of New York City (when Amtrak replaced the Metroliner multiple units with the locomotive-hauled Metroliners). The remaining ones use preventative measures such as four-quadrant gates, except in New London, Connecticut, whose three crossings are very close to the station.

    The following 11 crossings remain, all in southeastern Connecticut:

    Station listing

    Station Listing
    State Milepost City Station Amtrak Other Connections
    MA Boston South Station AE RG LS MBTA MBTA Red Line, commuter rail to Plymouth, Middleborough
    Back Bay Station AE RG LS MBTA MBTA Orange Line, commuter rail to Worcester
    226 Ruggles MBTA MBTA Orange Line
    223.5 Forest Hills MBTA
    220.5 Hyde Park MBTA
    217.5 Dedham
    Westwood     		Route 128 AE RG MBTA MBTA commuter rail, park and ride
    214 Canton Canton Junction MBTA MBTA commuter rail to Stoughton
    210.5 Sharon Sharon MBTA
    204 Mansfield Mansfield MBTA
    197 Attleboro Attleboro MBTA
    192 South Attleboro MBTA
    190.5 state line
    RI Providence Providence AE RG MBTA
    Warwick T. F. Green Airport MBTA not yet open
    South Kingstown Kingston RG
    Westerly Westerly RG
    CT Stonington Mystic RG
    New London New London AE RG SLE
    Old Saybrook Old Saybrook RG SLE
    Westbrook Westbrook SLE
    Clinton Clinton SLE
    Madison Madison SLE
    Guilford Guilford SLE
    Branford Branford SLE
    rowspan=2|New Haven State Street Station MTA SLE
    Union Station AE RG VT MTA SLE Amtrak to Hartford and Springfield
    Milford Milford MTA
    Stratford Stratford MTA Metro-North to Waterbury
    Bridgeport Bridgeport RG VT MTA SLE
    rowspan=2|Fairfield Fairfield MTA
    Southport MTA
    rowspan=2|Westport Green's Farms MTA
    Westport MTA
    rowspan=3|Norwalk East Norwalk MTA
    South Norwalk MTA Metro-North to Danbury
    Rowayton MTA
    rowspan=2|Darien Darien MTA
    Noroton Heights MTA
    Stamford Stamford AE RG VT MTA SLE Metro-North to New Canaan
    rowspan=4|Greenwich Old Greenwich MTA
    Riverside MTA
    Cos Cob MTA
    Greenwich MTA
    NY Port Chester MTA
    Rye MTA
    Harrison MTA
    Mamaroneck MTA
    Larchmont MTA
    New Rochelle RG MTA Metro-North to Grand Central
    0 New York City Penn Station AE CD CL CS KS ML PA PL RG SM SS VT NJT Long Island Rail Road, NYCT A, C, E, 1, 2, 3, Amtrak trains to Albany, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago
    NJ 5 Secaucus Secaucus Junction NJT NJT to Hoboken and northern New Jersey
    8
    7     		Kearny Kearny Junction NJT joins from Hoboken Terminal
    8.5 Newark Penn Station AE CD CL CS KS ML PA PL RG SM SS VT NJT Newark City Subway, PATH
    10.5 CP Hunter NJT Raritan Valley Line splits to High Bridge
    Newark Airport KS RG NJT AirTrain
    13 Elizabeth North Elizabeth NJT
    14 Elizabeth NJT
    17.5 Linden Linden NJT
    19.5 Rahway Rahway NJT
    20 Perth Amboy Junction NJT North Jersey Coast Line splits to Bay Head
    Woodbridge Metropark AE CL KS ML RG VT NJT Park and ride
    26 Metuchen Metuchen NJT
    28.5 Edison Edison NJT
    31.5 New Brunswick New Brunswick KS RG NJT
    Jersey Avenue Station NJT
    47.4 West Windsor Princeton Junction KS ML RG NJT NJT Princeton Branch to Princeton
    Hamilton Township (Mercer County) Hamilton NJT
    57.1 Trenton Trenton AE CD CL CS KS ML PA RG SM SS VT SEPTA NJT NJT River LINE to Camden
    57.7 state line
    PA 63.6 Tullytown Levittown SEPTA
    66.8 Bristol Bristol SEPTA
    69.7 Bristol Township Croydon SEPTA
    71.3 Bensalem Eddington SEPTA
    72.5 Cornwells Heights KS RG SEPTA
    74.6 Philadelphia Torresdale SEPTA
    77.2 Holmesburg Junction SEPTA
    78.2 Tacony SEPTA
    80.1 Bridesburg SEPTA
    85.1 North Philadelphia KS RG SEPTA
    88.1
    0     		Zoo Tower
    1.5 30th Street Station AE CD CL CS KS ML PA PL RG SM SS VT SEPTA NJ Transit to Atlantic City, Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA to Philadelphia suburbs, Amtrak trains to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Chicago
    University City SEPTA SEPTA to Philadelphia International Airport
    6.1 Darby Darby SEPTA
    6.5 Sharon Hill Curtis Park SEPTA
    7.2 Sharon Hill SEPTA
    7.7 Folcroft Folcroft SEPTA
    8.3 Glenolden Glenolden SEPTA
    9.0 Norwood Norwood SEPTA
    9.7 Prospect Park Prospect Park SEPTA
    10.4 Ridley Park Ridley Park SEPTA
    11.1 Crum Lynne SEPTA
    12.3 Eddystone Eddystone SEPTA
    13.4 Chester Chester Transportation Center SEPTA
    15.5 Highland Avenue Station SEPTA
    16.7 Marcus Hook Marcus Hook SEPTA
    18.2 state line
    DE 19.6 Claymont SEPTA
    26.8 Wilmington AE CD CL CS ML PL RG SM SS VT SEPTA
    Churchmans Crossing SEPTA
    38.7 Newark RG SEPTA
    41.5 state line
    MD 59.5 Perryville Perryville MARC
    65.5 Aberdeen Aberdeen RG MARC
    75.6 Edgewood Edgewood MARC
    84.2 Martin Airport MARC
    95.7 Baltimore Penn Station AE CD CL CS ML PL RG SM SS VT MARC Maryland Transit Administration Light Rail
    99.4 West Baltimore MARC
    103.0 Halethorpe MARC
    107.7 Linthicum BWI Rail Station AE CD CL ML RG VT MARC Maryland Transit Administration Light Rail
    113.6 Odenton Odenton MARC
    119.4 Bowie Bowie State MARC
    124.7 Seabrook Seabrook MARC
    126.1 New Carrollton New Carrollton RG VT MARC WMATA Orange Line, park and ride
    131.4 state line
    DC 135.9
    1.1     		Washington C Tower
    0.0 Union Station AE CD CL CS ML PL RG SM SS VT MARC VRE commuter rail, WMATA Red Line, Amtrak trains to Virginia, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami

    References

    1. ↑  Kevin McKinney, At the dawn of Amtrak, Trains June 1991
    2. ↑  United States Railway Association final system plan for reconstructing railroads in the northeast and midwest region pursuant to the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973
    3. ↑  Jonathan Belcher, [Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district] (PDF)

    [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ]
    New Jersey Transit ([system map]) ([website])
    Hoboken Division Bergen County Line – Main Line (NJ Transit)>Main Line – Pascack Valley Line
    Morris and Essex Lines: Gladstone Branch– Morristown Line
    Montclair-Boonton Line
    Newark Division North Jersey Coast Line – Northeast Corridor Line – Princeton Branch – Raritan Valley Line
    South NJ and light rail Atlantic City Line – Hudson-Bergen Light Rail – Newark City Subway – River LINE
    Connections Aldene Connection – Hunter Connection – Kearny Connection – Montclair Connection – Secaucus Junction – Waterfront Connection
    Other information New Jersey Transit rail operations – List of New Jersey Transit stations – Buses used by New Jersey Transit – Retired New Jersey Transit rail fleet

     

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