“Amtrak and NJ Transit’s commitment to investment in infrastructure would not be possible without New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s support, as he shares our dedication to improving the overall customer experience,” Amtrak Chairman Tony Coscia says.
Specifics of the improvements along the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey include:
- Newark’s Penn Station will see Amtrak crews starting a block tie replacement program May 20. Work will commence on tracks 1 and 4 at the station, which are the most used inbound and outbound track. With 95 feet on track 1 and 1,100 feet on track 4, the deteriorated wooden ties will be replaced with concrete ties.
- Portal Bridge, the 108-year old span over the Hackensack River, will see Amtrak crews will perform timber deck replacement on tracks 2 and 3 this summer. Over 500 timbers per track will be replaced to last until the new Portal North Bridge is completed.
- Starting Aug. 5, at Fair Interlocking, north of the Trenton Transit Center Station, Amtrak crews will begin extensive timber and switch replacement work, including total switch replacement for six switches, current switch machines upgrading from air to electric, adding new electric switch heaters and replacing more than 700 ties and 350 switch timbers.
- Catenary upgrades including equipment removal, replacement, and new installation of constant tension catenary are ongoing. This is being done for all four tracks between County Interlocking in New Brunswick and Ham, 1 mile north of the Trenton Transit Center, a distance of more than 20 miles. This is done in anticipation of higher speeds over existing infrastructure for the new Acela Express fleet expected to enter service in 2021.
NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett says, “Through our partnership with Amtrak, the contributions from NJ Transit are being reinvested back into Amtrak’s infrastructure in the state, ensuring our customers continue to enjoy the safe and reliable service they deserve.”
The improvements are a result of a new financial agreement between Amtrak and NJ Transit reached in February. At that time, NJ Transit agreed to pay Amtrak all withheld funds owed.
Back in the early 1970’s an old Pennsy guy told me about a sinkhole between Trenton and Princton Jct. into which ballast had been dumped for more than century, and that consideration was being given, he scoffed, into driving piles. Anyone update on that?
Charles, the only known agency that doesn’t use GAAP is Amtrak, that is why no one actually knows what their costs and expenses are per service.
I’m not an accountant so I’ll have to assume railroad accounting meets GAAP or whatever standard. It always surprises me that routine maintenance can be passed off as a capital improvement. There’s some of that in other industries, such as highways and public utilities, but doesn’t seem as widespread.