Amtrak’s high-speed vision

By far the most significant intercity passenger rail service in the USA today is Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC. The service consists of both highspeed Acela and conventional regional rail operations.

Amtrak already has a higher market share than all air carriers combined in the New York-Washington and New York-Boston markets: it is faster between city centers and offers a better travel environment. But Amtrak’s trains run over old and mixeduse infrastructure, sharing tracks with commuter rail and freight operations. On many sections, speeds are considerably less than the trains can achieve.

The Northeast Corridor represents perhaps the best opportunity to create a true high-speed rail operation in the US. Corridor population is expected to grow from 50 million to 70 million by 2050, with a corresponding increase in travel demand and congestion levels. However, opportunities for significant improvements to the Corridor’s highway and air facilities appear limited. A true high-speed rail system could be a highly effective intercity travel mode, one that may well help shape the pattern and location of development.

Amtrak has not been idle. Following a widely cast consultation with stakeholders it has established a Northeast Corridor Infrastructure Master Plan to bring existing facilities to a state of good repair, replacing in the process life-expired elements such as lifting bridges on the shore sections through Rhode Island and Connecticut. Last year, Amtrak published a proposal for true high-speed service over mostly new alignments in the Corridor.

The challenge now is to work out how to deliver a program which, taking the Master Plan and true high-speed rail together, will cost over $150 billion and be implemented in steps over several decades. To address that challenge, Amtrak has commissioned the development of a business and financial plan from a team that is headed by KPMG and includes Steer Davies Gleave in major business planning and ridership forecasting roles.

For some, the answer may seem simple: turn the project over to the private sector. But while the private sector has played a valuable role in high-speed rail development around the world, all systems to date have needed some form of government involvement and funding.

Steer Davies Gleave has been at the forefront of high-speed rail planning across Europe, including leveraging private and public funding to deliver projects successfully. We will draw on this extensive experience as we prepare the business and financial plan to support Amtrak’s ambitious Northeast Corridor program.