Failing to Spend on Infrastructure Main Driver of NJ Transit Rail Delays

This is something I've been harping on for years. NJ Transit has failed to maintain its infrastructure, but Amtrak's deficiencies are driving the delays on those NJ Transit trains that use the Northeast Corridor. That includes the functionally obsolete Portal Bridge between Newark and Secaucus. 75 events involving the Portal Bridge led to delays across NJ Transit. Signal problems are another major source of delays. And the NJ Transit reporting of delays is itself skewed. It considers a train to be on time if it arrives up to 6 minutes late. When NJ Transit trains are supposed to be timed with connecting trains or PATH, the six minute difference can lead to more commuter misery with additional delays. Clearly, everyone recognizes the need to replace the Portal Bridge, but apparently no one has decided to start work on the project or set aside the funds to make it happen. It's been tied into a larger Northeast Corridor plan to upgrade rail speed and the construction of the Gateway Tunnel. That isn't necessary. The bridge can be built well ahead of any decisions on Gateway. Relieving that bottleneck will improve efficiencies and improve reliability. Another reason for the problems is that spending on infrastructure and repairs hasn't kept up with inflation, so the money isn't going far enough. In the end, commuters don't care who owns the lines or is responsible for the repairs; they want to see them done.

Amtrak's $151 Billion Northeast Corridor Wishlist, and California's HSR Boondoggle

Let the numbers sink in.

$151 billion.

220 mph high speed rail between Washington DC and Boston, enabling 37 minute trips between Philadelphia and New York City, and 94 minute trips between Boston and New York or New York and Washington DC.

That was the promise once envisioned for the Northeast Corridor (NEC) when Amtrak settled for the Acela service that ended up being less than half that speed. Those kinds of numbers would get me out of my car and head down to DC or Baltimore to catch ballgames on the weekend and would make business travel even more convenient for those all along the NEC.

Now, Amtrak is resurrecting the true high speed rail vision for the Northeast Corridor. It has the potential to be a game changer considering that those trips would be a fraction of the time spent flying between those destinations (not counting the travel time from the airport to the city center or the security checks).

Current travel times from New York to Philadelphia on Amtrak's sleek Acela trains are 1 hour, 15 minutes. Travel between New York and Washington currently takes 2 hours, 45 minutes and New York to Boston takes 3 hours, 41 minutes, according to Amtrak's website.

"The NEC (Northeast Corridor) region is America's economic powerhouse and is facing a severe crisis with an aging and congested multi-model transportation network that routinely operates at or near capacity in key segments," Amtrak's President Joe Boardman said in a statement.

The traditionally cash-starved railroad is funded by Congress, where Republicans have been reluctant to finance prior plans to develop high-speed rail in the United States.

Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm acknowledged a lack of federal support but said there were other funding options.

"You have to have a plan and if you have a plan, the money will follow," Kulm said.

Among the sources was $450 million in funding turned down by the state of Florida for a high-speed rail proposal there that will instead be used for rail improvements in New Jersey.

Starting sometime in the 2020s, the hyper speedy "NextGen" trains will replace Acela trains, which were first introduced in 2000, Kulm said.

The newest Amtrak improvement plan also calls for direct links to airports and listed Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore and White Plains, New York, as possible candidates for Amtrak service. Some are already served by local commuter rail lines, such as Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which connects to the Philadelphia International Airport.

"The vision we will shape with the Northeastern states, Amtrak and all of our stakeholders will outlast the vagaries of politics, budgets and critics," said Joseph Szabo, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, which oversees Amtrak, of the 2012 report.

There's more than a little to be critical of when discussing Amtrak's record on high speed rail and upgrading its infrastructure. It has consistently lagged behind on its maintenance and upgrades of infrastructure, and while it has moved ahead with bridge replacement projects elsewhere on the NEC, particularly in Connecticut, the three major bottlenecks on the system are in New Jersey - the Portal Bridge, the tunnels into Manhattan, and the Harold Interlocking, which is Sunnyside Queens where LIRR, NJ Transit, and Amtrak trains have to pass through in a coordinated ballet to keep everything resembling a schedule. Those projects would apparently be included in the overall $151 billion approach.

Something has to give on the costs involved. There's no reason why Amtrak's costs to upgrade are anything approaching $335 million a mile for the NEC between Boston and DC. It costs France's SCNF far less to build a mile of new rail, but that has to be tempered by the fact that the Amtrak right of way is seriously constrained because of urban development throughout the NEC and acquisition costs would be far higher in the US. Still, there are ways that Amtrak can and should bring the costs to upgrade the system down.

Still, $151 billion as spread over 30 years is something approaching $5 billion a year - a major infusion of money but not nearly as eye popping. This is investment in infrastructure and it would mean tens of thousands of construction jobs up and down the East Coast. It would mean steelmakers and fabricators would be supplying new rail and equipment. Technology companies would be providing equipment to make the system more reliable. Engineering firms would be generating jobs for those to design and build the network.

In other words, while Amtrak would be spending the money, it would be private enterprises that are generating the jobs and revenues that would have long term benefits to the local and national economy. It would also build a robust backup to the creaking air travel system.

It's also worth noting that California is about ready to delve into a high speed boondoggle of its own where it's proposing to build a high speed rail network not to connect San Francisco with San Diego via Los Angeles, but rather, inland where there's a fraction of the population to support such a network. It was a political decision so that the money could be obtained, not because it made economic sense.

The California HSR project route was decided not because of practicality or revenue, but by which parts of the state would be able to get it to run through their communities, even though it would mean tearing up farmland and requiring condemnation of land (eminent domain). Instead of using a routing that required fewer eminent domain proceedings and a more direct route, they chose the one that had the political backing. So, California will find itself with a HSR that few will end up using, cost more than it should, and everyone will point to it as a reason not to do HSR in the US.

The HSR setup in France and Japan is similar to an airport hub and spoke approach. You build the hubs in the major urban centers, and connect those with HSR. As the system grows, you can expand the HSR to secondary satellite communities and then with urban rail networks. This way, you maximize population density that would take advantage of the HSR, you can achieve travel times that can not only meet but beat air travel (especially considering the time to pass through security, to say nothing of having to travel to an airport that is frequently on the outskirts of the city, not the city center as most rail facilities are located).

Amtrak's Northeast corridor is the opposite approach - it's already a profitable route for Amtrak and if Amtrak could get the system up to speeds approaching HSR found in Europe or Asia, it could not only win commuters away from the airlines, but it would reduce congestion in the air- improving the travel for fliers too since commuter flights between Boston, DC, and New York are a significant cause for delays throughout the US airspace because of congestion at the New York area airports. It's all the more reason to throw support behind the Amtrak plan. It has a path to profitability and generating economic development to say nothing of jobs.

UPDATE:
The Amtrak documentation can be found here. It's a manageable 42 page document, complete with charts, graphs, and how the new right of way would be organized. It would essentially create a 4-track express/local track configuration with the express track capable of handling the HSR.

Capital investment would be phased in - with the section around New York City being key to the overall strategy. That means getting the Gateway/Portal Bridge/Harold Interlocking done is critical to the overall strategy. It also means a significant chunk of the $151 billion is going to the New York metro area for design and construction. Considering that the Portal Bridge is estimated to run $1.3-1.8 billion, while the Gateway Tunnel is another $13-15 billion ($14.7 billion as per page 24). Page 31 addresses the segment costs. Interestingly, rolling stock is the lowest cost of the entire package - $5.2 billion, which makes sense since the infrastructure construction costs are the lion's share of the project.

It also addresses expanding existing capacity - including acquiring 40 additional Acela express passenger cars to lengthen train-sets by 2015 (expanding capacity by 40%). By 2020, Amtrak hopes to acquire new high-speed train sets (doubling service from NYC to DC) as well as complete the Portal Bridge and Harold Interlocking/Sunnyside Yards projects as well as upgrading the power systems through New Jersey.

By 2025, it hopes to get Gateway Tunnel done and to finally get more regularly scheduled Acela trips between NYC and DC and Boston. It's only by 2040 that the full HSR would be realized.

The document also provides new renderings for the Moynihan Station, which would expand Penn Station under the Farley Post Office. It wouldn't expand capacity, but rather rejigger space under the post office and MSG.

What's interesting is that the HSR plan for the NEC would include an entirely new alignment inland from New Rochelle, New York through Providence, Rhode Island. The alignment wouldn't change south of New York City. A newly configured Shoreline Express would cover those cities covered by the current NY to Boston alignment, with regional service supplementing service.

The Amtrak vision also indicates that there would be express and super express service - direct NYC to DC and NYC to DC routings - with no intermediate stops. Other trains would stop at designated city stops.

The Amtrak plans for rolling stock - the locomotives and train sets, would depend greatly on whether the FRA would allow an off-the-shelf solution or needing to build a system from the ground up. Frankly, it would be far cheaper to go with an off-the-shelf system, but that would mean likely buying from a foreign source (think France, Japan, or other European or Asian providers).

The Turbo Trains To Nowhere

Back when I was going to college in Albany, I had occasion to take Amtrak and from New York City. More than a few times, I was on a Turbo Train, which was faster than the standard service by about 10-15 minutes.

When Governor George Pataki was in office, he touted a proposal to upgrade the New York to Albany line for high speed rail and even had a deal in place with Amtrak to upgrade service, including refurbishing several of the Turbo trains for high speed service.

Well, needless to say, the project went off the rails. New York still lacks the high speed rail corridor, but the state is still on the hook for the costs of storing the four Turbo trains that it had obtained from Amtrak.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is now dealing with the residual mess - and is going to be selling off the trains for scrap because they've been allowed to rust in place.

But the necessary track improvements never happened. Trains that the state paid $70 million to refurbish did not work. Then the state accused Amtrak of stealing several of them by towing them to Delaware and never bringing them back.

Four trains remain as monuments to the disastrous project. For years, the state paid more than $150,000 annually to rent a space to house the trains in Glenville, as well as a warehouse for spare parts in a Rotterdam industrial park.

“This is New York State’s $70 million train to nowhere,” said Howard B. Glaser, the director of state operations, who called the abandoned trains a glaring example of “waste and incompetence.”

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, has made a priority of consolidating government offices and trying to sell surplus state property, from automobiles to state prisons. His administration says it has already netted more than $1 million via an eBay store.

On Thursday, his aides said they would now try to sell the unused trains and their spare parts, probably for scrap.

Even by Albany standards, the high-speed line offers a reminder of how a much-heralded government project can fall apart — literally, in the case of the boarded-up, weed-infested trains. The state is still paying off bonds that financed a portion of the train project, even though it never succeeded, said Robert L. Megna, the state’s budget director.

The track improvements never happened and that meant that the locomotives couldn't ever get up to speed. New York was forced to cover storage costs at more than $150,000 a year.

The fact is that had the tracks been upgraded, it would have represented a clear opportunity for high speed rail. The line was uniquely suited for the purpose - it's a high traffic route that feeds into the NEC at New York Penn Station, and could have served as a demonstrator route for upgrades elsewhere in the country. But the project was starved of funding and Amtrak botched its end of the project almost as badly as the state botched its side.

But at least I can say that I took one of those Turbo trains before they went off the rails.

MTA Kills 7 Train Proposal To Secaucus, Leaving Gateway As Only Proposed Cross-Hudson Transit Expansion Project

MTA Chairman Joe Lhota has effectively killed any chance for the 7 Train to be extended to Secaucus. He cites the costs of building out the line and the need to build a maintenance yard in New Jersey.

Lhota has a point - the MTA can barely afford its existing system and is already over budget on existing expansion or renovation projects, including the 7 Line extension to the Javits Center, the Second Avenue Subway that is only funded through completion of the phase 1 stub, and the Fulton Street Transit Hub. It can't afford to take on a major undertaking such as the extension to New Jersey without any funding in place.

New York City isn't ponying up the funds, nor is New York State. New Jersey has been open to the idea, particularly after Gov. Christie killed the abortive ARC tunnel project because cost overruns could run from a conservative $1 billion over budget to $5 billion or more, with New Jersey taxpayers on the hook for any overages, but the real transit expansion option is the Gateway tunnel project.

That's not funded to any degree worth speaking about. It barely has enough funding to get to keep the name, despite the critical need to eliminate a bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor and to expand high speed rail for Amtrak and NJ Transit traffic. Amtrak would be the lead agency, which makes sense on an interstate project, but funding is caught up in politics and isn't likely to be in place anytime soon.

Gov. Christie Gets His Way On Ending Sad ARC Chapter

When Governor Chris Christie killed the woeful ARC tunnel project that even boosters of mass transit said was a misbegotten plan that wouldn't relieve congestion and would saddle New Jersey taxpayers with anywhere from $1 to $5 billion in cost overruns, backers of the project slammed Christie for killing a project that was in the works for years and that would supposedly cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in repayments for federal funds already expended.

Well, Gov. Christie won that fight too. Instead of repaying $271 million, New Jersey will be on the hook for $95 million over five years, and the $1 million spent on legal fees to fight the repayment looks like money well spent.

The fact is that the ARC tunnel was a boondoggle that would have made the Secaucus Junction project look like child's play. NJ Transit has repeatedly shown itself incapable of bringing in projects on time and on schedule - especially larger projects like what was being contemplated.

Moreover, there were huge problems with the design. It wasn't that this was a tunnel to Macy's/Herald Square. It was that the tunnel would not relieve congestion like NJ Transit claimed it would; it would not have access to store trains in Sunnyside Yards, meaning that trains coming into the new terminal access would have to be sent back to New Jersey for storage between rush hours. It was a pitiful design considering all the money spent and it wasn't even the best of the alternatives considered.

Proponents of ARC came back and proposed another alternative, Gateway, which would be built under Amtrak auspices, and that proposal has a whole lot more going for it. For starters, it would bring truly high speed rail access to Manhattan, and increase the amount of NJ Transit trains into Manhattan. It just wouldn't bring as many trains as NJ Transit wished for (but which NJ Transit can't afford to run because the agency simply keeps cutting service because it lacks the capacity and operating budget to do so unless it raises fares). In fact, NJ Transit raised fares and cut service in the last round, and all the talk about a one-seat ride into Manhattan from Northern NJ is just that - talk. It wouldn't happen, and if it did, it would eliminate the need for having built Secaucus Transfer the way they did - for an obscene cost and which draws a fraction of the riders that it was originally intended to do. A one-seat ride would eliminate the reason for most of those using the station at all - to transfer between the Northern New Jersey train lines into NY Penn Station.

Repercussions Persist From China's High Speed Rail Crash

Victims of the high speed rail crash that killed 40 people and injured over 190 people are caught up in the unending bureaucratic and governmental nightmare. The railway "company" is the worst of a for-profit entity and a state-run and operated entity, with no oversight and accountability. Moreover, the rail company is essentially investigating itself and isn't likely to find fault where fault truly lies precisely because the company knows that its long range plans call for the export of high speed rail technology.

Add to that the fact that railway personnel were more interested in restoring service as quickly as possible and sought to bury damaged equipment rather either search for victims and survivor or carry out a thorough investigation.

Mr. Chen said he lost roughly $6,000 in cash and other belongings in the accident. The railways ministry paid him a mere $35.

He asked to be transferred from a Wenzhou hospital to a better hospital in the city of Fuzhou, his hometown. Instead, the ministry moved him to an old-age home, where he receives no medical treatment, despite continuing lung trouble, back pain and other ailments due to his injuries.

“I want to cry, but I have no tears left,” he said. “Our family has already lost someone in this accident. How can they treat us like this? I am being tortured both physically and mentally.”

Almost two months after the high-speed rail crash killed 40 people and injured 191 others, a government investigative panel is readying a report on the disaster, expected to be released this month. But the injured and the survivors of the dead say they have already reached their own conclusions. They say the railways ministry, which has a long history of corruption, skimped on safety, bungled the rescue effort, tried to hide the extent of its failings and showed a callous disregard for victims.

“They are their own little nation,” said Pasquale Liguori, who lost his daughter, a foreign-language student from Naples, Italy, who was on her first visit to China with her boyfriend. “The China Railways Ministry killed my daughter, and they want to hide everything that happened. It is revolting.”

The ministry has said it upholds high safety standards, did not prematurely end the rescue and is participating in a transparent investigation.

The ministry is indeed a fief, a holdover from the era when the state controlled all. With two million workers, it is perhaps the world’s fourth-largest employer, behind Wal-Mart. Its work force matches that of the entire United States federal government, excluding military and postal workers.

It owns the railways it regulates, a built-in conflict that critics say encourages corruption, endangers safety in the name of profit and hinders accountability. Its safety data are not publicly released. It runs its own court system and, until recently, its own police force.

The government has for over a decade discussed dividing the ministry’s business and regulatory functions, as it did years ago with the civil aviation industry. But using its clout as the nation’s mover of coal — and now, as the developer of high-speed rail into one of China’s technological and industrial crown jewels — the rail ministry has adroitly fended off reform.

“The ministry is a monster, half government agency, half for-profit company,” said Zhang Kai, a Beijing lawyer who has faced off against the ministry. “It can choose to behave like either one.”

It is not unusual for victims of government mishaps in China to find themselves isolated and helpless. Chinese authorities typically minimize events that suggest government incompetence lest they encourage social unrest.

But as crash victims and others tell it, the bureaucracy’s handling of the crash is a case in itself. Chinese officials have already declared that the disaster was preventable, caused by human error and poorly designed signal equipment. Now the ministry faces a dilemma: if the government’s investigation does not appear credible, it could hurt the ministry’s chances to export high-speed rail equipment and technology. But any admission of systemic flaws might also scare away customers.

Foreign entities looking for high speed rail want to see a detailed investigation, but they don't want to purchase from an entity that is rife with all kinds of technological shortfalls; it's a conundrum for the company and it seems that rather than come clean with its faults, it's going to shift blame where possible.

China's High Speed Rail Program Takes Hit After Major Accident Kills 32+

China has been spending billions of dollars to build and expand a high speed rail network throughout the country, but from the outset there have been questions and fears over the safety of the system.

Those fears were realized when a major accident occurred yesterday killing at least 32 people.

One train was apparently disabled due to a lightning strike, but safety systems that should have warned other trains to stop didn't work. A speeding train rear-ended the stalled train, causing a derailment. Hundreds were injured and more than 30 killed.



China's rail minister apologized for the accident, but that will be cold comfort to those who lost loved ones in the accident. The minister was also trying to blame the accident on the weather, but that would suggest that the system is not properly designed to account for common weather. Three others have been fired, but that is the tip of the iceberg.

Lightning should not disable safety systems that would have not only warned of the stalled train. The failure to warn other trains that there was a stalled train in the area led to the accident; but for the equipment failure, the accident would not have occurred. This was a design defect with the high speed rail network.

That goes to the design and safety systems built in to China's high speed rail network and if this problem occurred in this instance, what is to say that the rest of the network isn't built in the same fashion meaning that this is a disaster waiting to happen again and again until suitable backup systems are installed and/or protocols are put in place to prevent future accidents.

UPDATE:
The perception of a coverup seems to be in full gear. Instead of using all manner of investigative technologies to examine the damaged rail cars so as to prevent future accidents - as is the way the NHSTA, OSHA, and other American safety agencies do following deadly accidents, the Chinese have taken to burying the damaged railcars so as to somehow prevent "critical technologies from falling into the wrong hands". This is CYA at its worst.

Photos on the popular Weibo microblogging service showed backhoes burying the wrecked train near the site. Critics said the wreckage needed to be carefully examined for causes of the malfunction, but the railway ministry said that the trains contain valuable national technology and could not be left in the open in case it fell into the wrong hands.

Foreign companies maintain that some crucial technology was stolen from their imported trains. But more importantly to domestic audiences is the perception of a coverup. Initial reports of how the accident occurred are already being partly contradicted by reports in the official media.

The Railway Ministry issued a statement Saturday night that said the first train had been struck by lightning and lost power. It did not explain why the second train was not signaled to stop. In addition, new reports on Xinhua indicate that the first train had started to move by the time it was struck. The ministry has not explained the discrepency.

The wreck is one of several high-profile public transportation accidents in China recently. Early Friday, 41 people died when an overloaded bus caught fire in central China’s Henan province.

Earlier this month, an escalator at a subway station in Beijing collapsed, killing one and injuring 28. Last week alone, four bridges collapsed in various Chinese cities.

In the rush to build infrastructure, it appears the Chinese are cutting corners at every opportunity, and the results are a body count that will only keep rising.

Transportation Department Announces $2+ Billion In Rail Projects

Once Florida's Governor Rick Scott canceled the high speed rail project, other states scrambled to lay claim for projects in their state.

Today, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced who would receive the funds.

The big winner?

For a change, it was the Northeast Corridor (NEC), including the segment in New Jersey. The NEC will be getting significant upgrades for its overhead catenary power lines from Pennsylvania through New Brunswick, New Jersey and the Portal Bridge will be getting funding:

In what the president of Amtrak termed the first step toward getting the Gateway commuter train tunnel from Secaucus to Manhattan, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced the Northeast Corridor rail line south of New Brunswick is getting $450 million for improvements that will allow speeds up to 160 mph.

Amtrak president Joe Boardman said the money – freed up after Florida rejected federal high-speed rail funds – will increase reliability on the Northeast Corridor, America’s busiest rail corridor.

He said replacing the Depression Era overhead catenary wires and upgrading the power are key components -- along with replacing the century-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River – in getting the Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson River.

"This is part of the Gateway project,” Boardman said from New York Penn Station, where the Gateway Tunnel would connect. “This is a critical hurdle.”

Replacing catenary wires and improving the electrification for Amtrak trains between New Brunswick and Morrisville, Pa., will improve reliability for the corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., officials said.

Sagging or frayed wires are a frequent bane of Northeast Corridor travelers in New Jersey, causing delays and making a difficult commute harder.

Other Northeast Corridor improvements announced today were $22 million toward replacement of a century-old bridge in Maryland and $295 million to alleviate delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan with new routes that allow Amtrak trains to bypass a busy passenger rail junction in Queens.

The Portal Bridge doesn't exactly receive funding under the proposals and it's again being tied with the more politically suspect Gateway Tunnel - which is the successor project to the canceled ARC Tunnel.

Regardless of what happens with the tunnel project, everyone agrees that the Portal Bridge must be replaced. It is one of the critical bottlenecks on the NEC. Improving the power infrastructure along the NEC is a major concern to eliminate ongoing issues particularly in the summer when the overhead wires frequently lose power or come down in storms, get entangled in equipment, or otherwise cause delays and congestion throughout the NEC. The overhead power lines are obsolete in many locations and Amtrak has been slowly upgrading those power lines but hasn't had the funds available to complete the job along the entire NEC.

The Portal Bridge is another piece that needs replacement and upgrade, and it should not be tied to other projects that are wound up in political squabbles.

Here's the rundown of all the projects affecting the NEC:

NORTHEAST CORRIDOR (NEC)
Amtrak – NEC Power, Signal, Track, Catenary Improvements – $450 million to boost capacity, reliability, and speed in one of the most heavily-traveled sections of the Northeast Corridor, creating a 24-mile segment of track capable of supporting train speeds up to 160-mph.

Maryland – NEC Bridge Replacement – $22 million for engineering and environmental work to replace the century-old Susquehanna River Bridge, which currently causes frequent delays for commuters due to the high volume of critical maintenance.

New York – NEC Harold Interlocking Amtrak Bypass Routes – $295 million to alleviate major delays for trains coming in and out of Manhattan with new routes that allow Amtrak trains to bypass the busiest passenger rail junction in the nation.

Rhode Island – NEC Kingston Track, Platform Improvements – $25 million for design and construction of an additional 1.5 miles of third track in Kingston, RI, so high-speed trains operating at speeds up to 150-mph can pass trains on a high-volume section of the Northeast Corridor.

Rhode Island – NEC Providence Station Improvements – $3 million for preliminary engineering and environmental work to renovate the Providence Station. These upgrades will enhance the passenger experience, keep the station in good working order and improve transit and pedestrian connectivity.

The Harold Interlocking is another source of delays, and a bypass would further increase speed on the NEC between New York and Boston.

New York Makes Bid To Capture High Speed Rail Money Rejected By Florida

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo intends to seek $517 million in federal high speed rail money that was rejected by Florida when Gov. Rick Scott killed a high speed rail project between Orlando and Tampa.

New York's rail system could desperately use the funds, and the money will help improve track and station conditions between New York and Albany, although there are a total of eight projects statewide:

The projects include:
Northeast Corridor Congestion Relief: Harold Interlocking: The largest application is for $294.7 million for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA) Harold Interlocking plan. This project calls for the construction of a new conflict-free route for Amtrak along two miles of the Northeast Corridor where Amtrak service must cross over a flow of MTA Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains, resulting in significant and routine delays for Northeast Corridor service, particularly during peak periods.

The Amtrak bypass routes that will be constructed as part of this project will greatly improve reliability, on-time performance, and travel time for existing Amtrak service between New York and Boston and will provide the direct path through Harold Interlocking that is needed to make high-speed rail possible on the Northeast Corridor in the future.

Moynihan Station Phase 2 Final Design Project: The Governor is seeking $49.8 million to fund the final design of Phase 2 of the Moynihan Station Project, providing new passenger and back-of-house facilities for Amtrak. The Project will improve operational reliability and on-time performance at the station by allowing trains and people to move more efficiently through the Penn Station complex.

Northeast Corridor Congestion Relief: New Upper Hudson Line High-Capacity Signal System - Croton to Poughkeepsie: The $112 million project will construct a new high-capacity signal system to replace the present outdated signal system between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie. The project will provide for higher capacity and reliability to all users and will result in improved on-time-performance and increased capacity.

Empire Corridor Capacity Improvements: Final Phase Signal Improvements Hudson Line: At a cost of $18.6 million this project will replace the final 48 miles of the Hudson Line signal system between Poughkeepsie and Albany and bury the signal cable. The current system is 30 years old and outages in inclement weather account for most of the delay affecting all trains between Albany and New York City.

Empire Corridor Capacity Improvements: Final Phase 4th Track Construction at Rensselaer Station: This $35.4 million project will complete work at the new Rensselaer Station which was opened in 2002. The funding will be used to construct a new fourth track, extended platforms, realignment of existing tracks and new signal system.

Empire Corridor Capacity Improvements: Final Phase Track Construction at Schenectady Station: The Governor would use $4.1 million to make major upgrades to the Schenectady Station. Built in 1970, the station is in poor condition with inadequate track and platforms. CDTA has designed a new station and tracks and has State and local funding in place for constructing the station. This project will provide for construction of the track and platforms and complete the funding package necessary for the Schenectady Station replacement.

Empire Corridor West: Rochester Intermodal Station: The City of Rochester plans to replace the inadequate, 37 year old temporary Rochester Station with a new Rochester Intermodal Station. This $1.4 million project would complete the preliminary engineering and environmental work.

Empire Corridor West: Niagara Falls High-speed Rail Inspection and Maintenance Facility: This project will use $1.75 million to conduct the preliminary engineering and environmental analysis necessary to construct the first heated, in-door maintenance facility west of Schenectady on the Empire Corridor West. Employees at the present facility built in 1978 service 728 locomotives, 2,912 coaches and 728 food service cars annually. The facility has no enclosed heated building to thaw out frozen equipment and Amtrak mechanics must use torpedo heaters and hand held torches to get equipment operating. This project will prepare the construction of an enclosed heated building, inspection pit, compressed plant air, and a track catch basin in which to capture water and oils.

However, notably absent among the projects is the use of any of those funds towards the construction of the Gateway Tunnel, which supersedes the ARC tunnel killed by Gov. Christie, which would enable high speed rail to access Penn Station.

Florida's High Speed Rail Project DOA; Funds Will Go Elsewhere

Despite last minute efforts by politicians and cities that would have potentially benefited from the high speed rail connection project between Tampa and Orlando, Florida's Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Rick Scott was within his rights to cancel the $2.4 billion project and use state funds towards other infrastructure projects.

 

Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields said the state cannot rely on just on roads to move people, goods and services. Scuttling the train, he said, is "just not forward thinking. We have to do something different as a state."

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, lamented the loss of jobs.

"His heart is hard," she said of the governor. "Honest to goodness, I never thought I would miss Charlie Crist."

LaHood, who envisions a high-speed rail network similar to the interstate highways crisscrossing the country, said, "I know that states across America are enthusiastic about receiving additional support to help bring America's high-speed rail network to life and deliver all its economic benefits to their citizens," LaHood said.

States that could get all or part of the money include California, Illinois, Missouri and Washington.

Scott was applauded by Robin Stublen, a founder of the Punta Gorda Tea Party and a member of the Florida Alliance, a group of fiscal conservatives, as well as Sharon Calvert, co-founder of the Tampa Tea Party.

Calvert called Scott "courageous," and Stublen criticized LaHood for still spending the $2.4 billion.

"I think sending that money elsewhere is a poor decision," Stublen said. "It's not our money. We don't have it. This is not being prudent with your money."

The seven justices of the Supreme Court all agreed that Scott had the right to send back the money to Washington, rejecting the argument of state Sens. Thad Altman, R-Viera, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, that the law they helped pass in 2009 forced him to take the funds and build the train.

They issued a one-page ruling dismissing the suit.

Scott has directed that $77 million in state funds be used to dredge Miami's harbor to deepen it in anticipation of new larger ships that would take advantage of the soon to be opening Panama Canal expansion. He claims that the dredging project would eventually create 37,000 jobs, while the high speed rail project was expected to create 25,000 jobs. By that measure, Scott was right to cancel the project, but if private companies were going to cover potential overruns on the rail project, it should have been sufficient to overcome the cost issues that Scott had with the project.

This would have been a great test case to see whether true high speed rail has a chance in the US.

What's dismaying is that the Northeast Corridor wont be in line for any of these funds - $2.4 billion would go a long way to replacing the Portal Bridge, and that's a project that is truly shovel ready. Why is the Administration playing games with the funds and opting to send the money elsewhere when this project directly benefits the nation's only current high speed rail corridor (which has the highest population density and usage rates in the nation to boot).

California may get a portion of the federal funds, which would go towards that state's high speed rail project. However, no one knows the real cost of that project, which has received pledges of $3 billion in federal funds, but is likely to cost $43 billion - or more than double the next highest cost for an infrastructure project in the nation's history - Boston's Big Dig that itself went significantly over budget (by more than $10 billion).

That once again highlights the nation's dysfunctional funding mechanisms for infrastructure projects and how shifts in local priorities can derail state and federal infrastructure objections. Moreover, it shows that the prioritization of infrastructure projects is simply not there. The country is more interested in building new infrastructure while existing infrastructure is obsolete and needs replacement - such as on the NEC. We can't continue looking to build new infrastructure when the existing infrastructure is falling apart and is not capable of handling existing traffic, let alone future anticipated growth.

Deadline Day For Florida's High Speed Rail Project

Today's the deadline day to get Florida's high speed rail (HSR) project back on track. Backers of the project say that any cost overruns would be borne by the private sector, eliminating the key concern for GOP Gov. Rick Scott, who also claims that the money would be better used upgrading ports to handle larger ships once the Panama Canal upgrade is completed:

"We have addressed all of the governor's concerns," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio. "We have structured this so that if there were cost overruns the private sector would take care if it."

Iorio, along with the mayors of Orlando, Lakeland and Miami, signed an agreement that calls for local authorities to take over the project with the help of the private sector. They presented their plan to Scott Wednesday.

"If there are operational short falls -- private sector. This is a true public-private partnership," Iorio said. "This is what governors all across the country want and we had structured this in such a way that there would not be risk to the Florida taxpayers."

Scott's office did not respond to CNN's request for a comment on the agreement.

Scott has said that he believes there would be a greater long-term benefit to the state if the money were used for other infrastructure projects.

"I want the money for our ports," he said, noting the expansion project now underway at the Panama Canal and the growth of economies in Central and South America. "Put that money into the Florida ports. That's where we want that money spent."

But LaHood said the funds were specifically allocated for high-speed rail and can't be switched to other projects.

Proponents of high-speed rail believe Florida is the ideal location for an inter-city system. The Tampa to Orlando project would be the first leg in a line that advocates hope to extend to Miami and eventually Jacksonville in the north of the state.

If that's the case, then let this project go ahead and see if Florida can get HSR up and running. It would be a tremendous test case to see if the country can get anything approaching HSR.

Meanwhile, funding to get key improvements on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) are still lagging - particularly the Portal Bridge project that should be separate from all the discussions about the Gateway Tunnel/ARC project.

The Portal Bridge is a project everyone agrees upon, yet no one in the NJ delegation seems to be able to secure funding - and that includes Sen. Frank Lautenberg whose name adorns the Secaucus Transfer for all of his support of mass transit. Time for him to put up and shut about about his ongoing feuds with Gov. Chris Christie and secure the funding for this project that has been on the drawing boards for years and which all the relevant parties - from Amtrak to NJ Transit to the state and federal authorities - recognize as critical to improving the on-time performance of the NEC and increasing speed on the corridor to reduce travel time between Washington DC and Boston.

UPDATE:
Benjamin Kabab at Second Avenue Sagas takes another crack at trying to figure out how to get a cross-Hudson River tunnel done. His takeaway:

The overarching issue with ARC, Gateway of the 7 line extension is one of local government and expenditures. Who stands to benefit most from the new tunnel — New York businesses who can bring more commuters and tourists into the city or New Jersey residents who will find their commutes quicker and less stressful? Should New Jersey pay for transportation improvements that only incidentally end up in New York or should New York add more to the pot for a tunnel that adds to its economic allure?

The answer to those question is, obviously enough, probably both. To realize a new cross-Hudson rail tunnel, New York will have to add more to the pot, and they likely should. In an age of stretched state budgets though, it’s tough to see where the money will come from, and we may be in for a long wait until the next tunnel breaks ground.

Actually, he leaves out the point that a cross-Hudson tunnel is an interstate venture and Amtrak improvements would vastly improve interstate travel along the NEC. Expanding slots for NJ Transit helps the daily commuters that not only commute into Manhattan for the day, but the reverse commuters who go elsewhere. A 7 line expansion would greatly improve regional transit capabilities since a New Jersey resident would have a 1-seat ride from Secaucus all the way to Flushing, and the related access to more subway lines. It's a project worthy of further study and should be up for federal funding just as surely as the other rail projects.

Christie was right to demand that New York get in the game and pony up more funds to make the tunnel work - the ARC project could have been salvaged had New York come up with the funding to cover overruns, which was a major concern that New Jersey taxpayers would be hit with billions in overruns.

Meanwhile, talk about increasing the New Jersey gas tax to fund mass transit keep ignoring that the state's taxpayers are the most heavily burdened in the nation based on their overall tax burden and that increasing the gas tax would be a further regressive hit on all taxpayers.

Yet, at some point, that gas tax will be raised to cover transportation projects that are absolutely needed and vital to New Jersey infrastructure - both mass transit and highways. There are too many projects that are needed, and which lack the needed funds to happen anytime soon.

UPDATE:
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that Gov. Scott has the authority to cancel the project. With this project all but killed, I can only hope that New Jersey and New York take advantage of the $2.4 billion to get the Portal Bridge project underway, and to get a head start on the Gateway/ARC tunnel project.

High Speed Rail Projects Go Off the Rails

Florida is the latest state to reject federal funds for high speed rail projects since the November elections swept new new administrations in state capitals from Ohio and New Jersey to Florida.

Gov. Rick Scott rejected the $2 billion in federal funds for a high speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando that would follow I-4 and wouldn't require major eminent domain condemnations because the land is already federally owned because he was concerned that Florida would be left holding the bag on cost overruns and then future operating costs for the rail line.

Mr. Scott is the third newly elected Republican governor to turn down a portion of the administration’s national rail system, joining John Kasich of Ohio and Scott Walker of Wisconsin. Each of the three replaced governors who had lobbied for the funds.

Mr. Scott’s move comes a little more than a week after Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called for spending $53 billion on passenger trains and high-speed rail projects over the next six years as part of the administration’s goal of making high-speed rail accessible to 80 percent of Americans within 25 years.

The 85-mile Tampa-to-Orlando segment, on which trains would travel as fast as 170 miles per hour, was to be the showpiece of that initiative — in part because the government already owned much of the right-of-way along the route, which would allow it to be built relatively quickly, and because the fast-moving train would contrast with slow-moving traffic along Interstate 4.

But critics — including the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, which has questioned the White House’s rail strategy — say the need to link Tampa and Orlando pales in comparison with the need for high-speed rail serving places that have received relatively little in federal economic stimulus funds for transportation projects, including the busy Northeast rail corridor between Washington and Boston.

Mr. Scott said at a news conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday that cost overruns related to the Tampa-to-Orlando line could leave Florida taxpayers stuck with a $3 billion tab. Further, he said that if the state deemed the project too costly after having started construction, it would be required to return the $2.4 billion to the federal government. He also said he believed that estimates of riders and revenue for the rail line were too optimistic, and that state taxpayers would have been left to pay for subsidies to keep the line running because it would be unable to pay for itself.

Mr. Scott said that although one study had projected that three million people would use the Tampa-to-Orlando line annually, only 3.2 million people rode Amtrak’s Acela trains in the Northeast Corridor in 2010, even though the population centers along the Acela route have as many as eight times the population of the area that would be served by the proposed Florida line.

The latter argument may be is a sound one, and brings into question overly rosy revenue/ridership projections to sustain a project even though there isn't nearly the population density to support the ridership projections.

However, that isn't the worst of this situation.

The Florida rejection of high speed rail funds again sets out the failure of the US to present a coherent and fiscally sustainable national high speed rail network and passenger rail system that provides high speed rail on designated corridors that actually make sense.

Forcing states to cover cost overruns makes little sense and doesn't actually force Amtrak or the other agencies involved in the projects take steps to reduce costs and hold down potential overruns. It simply shifts the fiscal burden.

In New Jersey, Gov. Christie killed the ARC project because New Jersey would be saddled with the cost overruns, which New Jersey taxpayers simply can't afford. The federal government refused to step in to cover the overruns or even to get New York to pony up potential funds to cover those potential overruns.

That ARC project has now been superseded with an even more expensive Gateway tunnel project under Amtrak auspices, but there isn't a funding mechanism in place to see it happen.

Now that Florida has relinquished its $2 billion in funding, along with Ohio, those funds should go to build out the Gateway project, or at a minimum, use the necessary funds to build the Portal Bridge replacement, which is a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor. That project should go ahead without further delay regardless of whatever stance is taken about the Hudson River tunnel projects and their relative merits.