Aging Infrastructure Plagues Nation’s Busiest Rail Corridor

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Aging Infrastructure Plagues Nation’s Busiest Rail Corridor

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/27/nyregion/aging-infrastructure-plagues-nations-busiest-rail-corridor.html?rref=nyregion&module=Ribbon&version=context&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=New%20York&pgtype=article


By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS and DAVID W. CHENJULY 26, 2015



The Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel in Maryland, opened in 1873, is among the choke points on the Northeast Corridor. Credit Matt Roth for The New York Times


In Maryland, a century-old rail tunnel needed emergency repairs this winter because of soil erosion from leaks, causing widespread train delays.

In Connecticut, an aging swing bridge failed to close twice last summer, stopping train service and stranding passengers.

And last week, New Jersey Transit riders had a truly torturous experience. There were major delays on four days because of problems with overhead electrical wires and a power substation, leaving thousands of commuters stalled for hours. One frustrated rider, responding to yet another New Jersey Transit Twitter post announcing a problem, replied: “Just easier to alert us when there aren’t delays.”



These troubles have become all too common on the Northeast Corridor, the nation’s busiest rail sector, which stretches from Washington to Boston and carries about 750,000 riders each day on Amtrak and several commuter rail lines. The corridor’s ridership has doubled in the last 30 years even as its old and overloaded infrastructure of tracks, power lines, bridges and tunnels has begun to wear out. And with Amtrak and local transit agencies struggling for funding, many fear the disruptions will continue to worsen in the years ahead.




Newark’s Penn Station. Electrical problems caused major delays on New Jersey Transit last week. Credit Ángel Franco/The New York Times

“We’re seeing two trends converging in an extraordinary way,” said Thomas Wright, president of the Regional Plan Association, a research and advocacy group. “Ridership is hitting all-time highs on the Northeast Corridor at the same time that the system is just too brittle and does not have the ability to withstand heat waves, storms and other incidents.”............


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