I was wondering if there are any updates on upgrades and improvements that are planned for Metro North's New Haven Line. I know they need to replace the catenary, as some of it is original to the New Haven Railroad, dating back to 1907. Replacing outdated bridges and straightening sections are also needed.
I drove from Hartford to New Haven on 3/17 (since Amtrak to NYP is expensive last-minute and not very convenient with the bustitutions from New Haven to Springfield, plus there's no comparison with GCT), took the Metro North into the city arriving in Grand Central 10 minutes late, totaling 2 hours and 10 minutes. It was a pretty painful ride: we were running below 30mph for quite a bit. I stayed in NYC for the day and took an express back which arrived in New Haven about 3 minutes early. It is only 75 miles from GCT to New Haven, yet it takes Metro North between 1' 49" and 2 hours. Amtrak does the 72 miles from NYP between 1' 36" and 1' 42", but most of that comes from the Hell Gate Line and only stopping at New Rochelle, Bridgeport, and Stamford.
I did some very rough calculations for average speeds on the NEC, and this is what I came up with:
WAS-NYP: 226 miles
NER: 69.5 mph
Acela: 82 mph
WAS-NHV: 301 miles
NER: 58 mph
Acela: 66 mph
WAS-HFD: 337 miles
NER: 56 mph
WAS-BOS: 457 miles
NER: 58 mph
Acela: 68.5 mph
NYP-NHV: 75 miles
NER: 51 mph
Acela: 52 mph
NYP-HFD: 111 miles
NER: 42 mph
NYP-BOS: 231 miles
NER: 55 mph
Acela: 60 mph
NHV-HFD: 36 miles
NER: 47 mph
NHV-BOS: 156 miles
NER: 62 mph
Acela: 74 mph
I drove from Hartford to New Haven on 3/17 (since Amtrak to NYP is expensive last-minute and not very convenient with the bustitutions from New Haven to Springfield, plus there's no comparison with GCT), took the Metro North into the city arriving in Grand Central 10 minutes late, totaling 2 hours and 10 minutes. It was a pretty painful ride: we were running below 30mph for quite a bit. I stayed in NYC for the day and took an express back which arrived in New Haven about 3 minutes early. It is only 75 miles from GCT to New Haven, yet it takes Metro North between 1' 49" and 2 hours. Amtrak does the 72 miles from NYP between 1' 36" and 1' 42", but most of that comes from the Hell Gate Line and only stopping at New Rochelle, Bridgeport, and Stamford.
I did some very rough calculations for average speeds on the NEC, and this is what I came up with:
WAS-NYP: 226 miles
NER: 69.5 mph
Acela: 82 mph
WAS-NHV: 301 miles
NER: 58 mph
Acela: 66 mph
WAS-HFD: 337 miles
NER: 56 mph
WAS-BOS: 457 miles
NER: 58 mph
Acela: 68.5 mph
NYP-NHV: 75 miles
NER: 51 mph
Acela: 52 mph
NYP-HFD: 111 miles
NER: 42 mph
NYP-BOS: 231 miles
NER: 55 mph
Acela: 60 mph
NHV-HFD: 36 miles
NER: 47 mph
NHV-BOS: 156 miles
NER: 62 mph
Acela: 74 mph
Last edited by a moderator: