Northeast Corridor “Site Visit”
This weekend I am doing a “site visit” on the northern end of the Northeast Corridor (NEC). As I am writing a report on high speed rail, yet have never ridden an Amtrak train at all on the NEC, my supervisor at RPA offered this chance to experience it first hand. I am getting the opportunity to ride both of Amtrak’s Acela Express and Northeast Regional trains.
I will be leaving Saturday from New York Penn Station on an Amtrak Northeast Regional and arrive at Boston South Station. The return trip on Monday afternoon is on the Acela Express train, America’s only “high speed rail” service. I will be closely following both trains’ progress, observing the right of way the trains pass through, observing the operations at stations, and how the Amtrak trains interact with the various commuter networks it shares the NEC with.
I combined this trip with a visit to MIT, so it should be a fun weekend.
Regarding the internship at RPA, I have only ten working days remaining, and am in the midst of producing maps and graphs about the NEC and high speed rail. I will prepare a final report and am presenting to RPA and some other stakeholders on February 26 at RPA’s New York office.