The Northeast Corridor is the fastest, busiest and most important rail line in all of the Americas. For nearly 200 years, the line has been a backbone of transportation in the Northeastern US as it was becoming connected together, and for nearly 100 years, the line has been powered by the objectively best way to power a train: overhead line electrification. This system has enable the line to be the fastest railroad line in America for decades. However, the system has been having a common nemesis in recent years: Heatwaves, which are causing havoc on the near century old catenary systems. It has caused constant delays, slow operations and even damage to trains and the infrastructure. And all of this boils down to one common problem. It's a problem that has hindered the Corridor's sky-high potential for decades, but is a problem that can actually be fixed relatively easily and also relatively cheaply compared to other infrastructure investments, and it's one that can provide by far the most notable benefits.

Oh, and I casually correct something that Wendover got very wrong when he made a video on this topic a little bit ago.

Good article on this topic: https://www.curbed.com/article/amtrak...

Sources:
https://media.amtrak.com/wp-content/u...
https://thebhc.org/sites/default/file...
https://x.com/alanthefisher/status/18...
https://web.archive.org/web/200104051...


Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:08 What is the Northeast Corridor?
7:39 Chaos, Confusion and Delay
9:56 Hot and Heavy
15:35 This is Not a New Problem...
18:00 Why is NJT getting it worse than Amtrak?
22:22 The Solution: Something that Everyone Else Uses... including Amtrak!
27:06 What This Fix Will Allow
29:20 How Much Will It Cost? Not As Much as You'd Fear!
33:38 It's Already Beginning...
37:51 Conclusion

Keywords: #amtrak #newjerseytransit #highspeedrail #trains #infrastructure #highspeedtrain #electrictrains #newyork #americantrain #usarailway #passengertrain #acela #acelaexpress #history #pennsylvaniarailroad #washingtondc #boston #philadelphia #urbanism #highway #bridges #intercitytrain #commutertrain #wendover #halfasinteresting #wrong