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[quote user="John WR"] [quote user="Sam1"]Why was the NEC infrastructure upgraded?  Was it to support the Acela's 150+ mph speeds, or was it to support higher speeds for the NEC regional trains, and the Acela was just an after thought.[/quote] Immediately or almost immediately after Amtrak began they also began to replace the ties and tracks in the northeast corridor.  The old ones were wooden ties and stick rail.  The new ones were concrete ties and continuous welded rail.  That was done many years before Acela.   Between New Haven and Washington the tracks were electrified by the original railroad companies.  However, at New Haven trains would have to change engines from electric to diesel and vice versa.  The change took about 20 minutes, long enough to run into the New Haven station and make a phone call in the days before cell phones.  In the 1990's the tracks were electrified north of New Haven so they must have had Acela in mind.  Of course, the Northeast Regional trains also benefited as they no longer had to stop to change engines.   [/quote] The key question is how much of the NEC upgrade was for the Acela and how much of it was for other operations?  Without access to Amtrak's books, it is impossible to know. Southwest Airlines unloads and loads a 737-700 at Dallas Love Field in approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Why did it take or does it take Amtrak 20 minutes to change power at New Haven? Could it be because Amtrak is a non-competitive monopoly?  Without any imperatives to hustle? If the change could have been quicker, say five minutes, would the wires from New Haven to Boston been necessary for better NEC regional train service, i.e ones with a top speed of say 110 mph?  Or were they really put up for the Acela?  Without access to Amtrak's books we will never know.
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