AP: America's premier rail superhighway is slowly falling apart

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150516/us--amtrak_crash-the_broken_corridor-7d952fd06d.html

By DAVID B. CARUSO and JUSTIN PRITCHARD

NEW YORK (AP) — The trains that link global centers of learning, finance and power on the East Coast lumber through tunnels dug just after the Civil War, and cross century-old bridges that sometimes jam when they swing open to let tugboats pass. Hundreds of miles of overhead wires that deliver power to locomotives were hung during the Great Depression.

The rails of the Northeast Corridor are decaying, increasingly strained — and moving more people than ever around the nation's most densely populated region.

The railroad's importance became all the more apparent after Amtrak Train 188 derailed Tuesday as it sped around a curve in Philadelphia, killing eight passengers and injuring more than 200.

The wreck closed part of the corridor all week. On a normal weekday, 2,000 trains run by Amtrak and eight other passenger rail systems carry 750,000 riders on railway between Washington and Boston, making it a vital link for both intercity travelers and suburban commuters.

FULL story at link.



FILE - This Oct. 19, 2010 file photo shows a large, rusty metal wall covering construction at the ARC Tunnel in North Bergen, N.J. Officials had a plan funded to relieve chronic backups between New York and New Jersey by building two more tubes in a second tunnel, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pulled the plug, citing concerns about his state's share of the project's massive cost. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)