The
remanufactured RTL III Turboliner will provide high speed
passenger service on the Empire Corridor.
Photo courtesy of Super Steel Schenectady Inc. |
The arrival of high speed intercity passenger rail advances the
region's efforts to better integrate all of its intercity
transportation systems. All along the Corridor, existing train
stations are being upgraded and transformed into intermodal facilities
to provide travelers with seamless transportation.
Two examples illustrate this. The new station under development in
Warwick, Rhode Island will link the Northeast Corridor to T. F. Green,
one of the region's fastest growing airports. The new station at Route
128 in Massachusetts provides access to intercity and commuter rail
along this heavily traveled urban highway. By reducing travel times
between city pairs all along the Atlantic Coast Corridor, high speed
passenger rail offers the traveler an alternative to congested
highways and airports. At the same time, it increases the value of
limited airport slots by freeing them for longer, more lucrative
flights.
In
addition to contributing to an integrated transportation system, train
stations along the Corridor serve as anchors for locally appropriate
development and community revitalization. Whether in New York City or
Rutland, Vermont, train stations help foster a strong sense of place
and community. The station is a key place to begin to measure the
broader impact that intercity passenger rail services have on the
natural and built environment of a community, state and region. A
civic culture that invests in stations and seamless transportation is
vibrant, providing its citizens with a range of mobility choices.
Acela
will
be the first of many milestones in the movement to higher speed
intercity passenger service. With federal research and development
investments in non‑electric locomotives, tilt technology
developed by the private sector, and an overall
business‑oriented development strategy, the business of
intercity passenger rail can grow, bringing new vitality into long-established
travel corridors. Throughout northern New England and along the
Empire, Keystone, Piedmont and Cascade Corridors serving the Mid-Atlantic,
Southeast and Pacific Northwest regions, modern, efficient passenger
rail service is moving forward. 
| Intermodal
System Strengthens Aviation
Along
the Atlantic Coast Corridor, intercity passenger rail strengthens
intermodal transportation by providing a reliable and efficient
alternative to air travel for trips of 150 to  300
miles. By redirecting this
demand, passenger rail may reduce congestion at some of the
nation's busiest airports, and allow scarce airport slots to be
used for more efficient, longer distance flights. Airport delays
are costly, contributing to higher airline operating costs and an
increase in noise and emissions. Increasingly, the human cost of
stressful waits, missed connections, lost work and business
opportunities, and wasted personal time must be considered.
Reported incidences of passenger interference with flight crews,
while minor, hint at a growing dissatisfaction with delays
associated with air travel.
*
Source: Federal Aviation Administration data, from A Time to Act,
Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, June 1999. |
October 
1999
|
