There is a lot of talk about high speed trains in the USA. These are actually three different types of project.
High Speed Rail schemes are schemes which improve existing lines. The effect of these improvements is to increase the speed to around 110 to 120 mph. These services are competitive with buses and cars over routes up to 100 miles so they tend to target links between nearby cities and long distance commuting into big cities.
Measures included in High Speed Rail phase I projects:
new contracts with track owners redesigning and rebuilding junctions (even adding flyovers) so trains go through faster and they don’t get in each others way, so late freight trains don’t cause delays to passenger trains because the passenger trains are now on a different track. replacing tracks adding or deleting particular signals where that speeds things up rebuilding tight curves to increase the max speed new diesel multiple unit passenger trains. top speed 120 mph, average speed 60 to 80 mph trains run every hour at the center/two hours at the periphery. web sites and new ways to buy tickets. Advertising campaigns to attract new passengers improvements can be financed by states and smallish government grants.If high speed rail phase I is successful in attracting passengers the frequency and the length of the trains can be increased until you reach the limit of the track. Then it is time to look at High Speed Rail Phase II. These are upgrades to HSRI schemes serving the same towns
Measures included in High Speed Rail Phase II projects:
passenger rail operator owns the line electrification resignalling — replace all signalling systems with modern automatic centralised systems new electric trains — quieter than the diesels better acceleration away from stations so faster end to end times trains at 15 mins intervals top speed 150 mph level crossings eliminated extending the service to new towns and stations near the line so the service is based on current needs rather than where the train lines were built years ago. years of disruption while the changes happen then a ‘sparks effect’ jump in ridership much more expensive than HSRI schemes.HSRII schemes increase capacity with longer trains at more frequent intervals. Speeds go up a little due to getting rid of more bottlenecks and speed restrictions but more important reliability improves. These types of railroads can achieve 99% on-time reliability.
The next step is Very High Speed Rail schemes. These are brand new railroads running at speeds of up to 250 mph between cities that are 400 miles apart. They compete with planes. The only example of a VHSR scheme in the USA is the California HSR but in other countries these are represented by the Japanese Shinkansen and the French TGV. These services are designed to move a lot of passengers so they are very different from the old once-a-day express trains from the age of steam.
Measures included in Very High Speed Rail projects:
new route with all curves etc. designed for high speed running, and ride so smooth you barely know the train is moving electrified new signalling allowing trains every 6 mins serves cities 400 miles apart new luxury trains top speed 250 mph Trains are compatible with HSRII routes and can continue over HSRII routes to get to destinations that are not directly connected to the VHSR route. This can start to happen as soon as part of the VHSR route is ready — you don’t have to finish the whole route to start to get benefits. (So in California you start with the miles of nothing in the Central Valley and use the local HSRII services in the LZ basin and the Bay area to get to destinations until the later phases are built.)What does this imply for the North East Corridor.
This line seems to be at the HSRII stage. The service was electrified and re-signaled in the thirties and the HSRII improvements have continued The current track is shared by Amtrak long distance trains and commuter services for the various cities along the way. As ridership increases there will come a point when the current track will be unable to cope with the number of passengers. This is similar to the situation between London and Birmingham in the UK. This has had a series of upgrades over the last hundred years, the latest of which made it 4-track for most of the route. The next upgrade is to build the HS2 Very High Speed Rail line between London and Birmingham which will take most of the non-stop traffic, letting the trains on the current alignment give a better service to (=more stops at) intermediate cities. If the North East Corridor follows this pattern then we would continue to see a bunch of projects aimed at improving the existing service, eliminating capacity bottlenecks and speed limits. Some financed by Amtrak, other by the states. These HSRII projects are needed even whether or not a VHSR scheme is built. In addition to all the HSRII projects there is also the Amtrak “Vision for High-Speed Rail on the Northeast Corridor" which proposes a VHSR service on a new route which would mostly follow the existing route but only stops at the main cities. This does not have to all be built to start getting benefits. Since the trains can also run on the existing north east corridor HSRII route they can switch to the VHSR route where it exists then switch back to the existing HSRII route for the rest of the trip. As soon as another section of the VHSR route is ready it can be used.Hope that helps.