East Coast Amtrak Upgrades

In just weeks, Amtrak will be getting a major upgrade on the East Coast, but there’s still one thing missing: a cross-country route from New York to L.A.

A long awaited upgrade will roll out on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor on Aug. 28: modern interiors for 28 new Acela trains running from Washington D.C. to Boston at a top speed of 160 miles per hour. The Acela line, a rare success story for high speed rail not seen elsewhere in the U.S.

“It’s in a market where trains can definitely be successful,” Doctor Stephen Mattingly, Professor of Civil Engineering at U.T. Arlington, said. “That’s not necessarily the same when we start looking at some of our larger population centers throughout the United States.”

Like on the West Coast. Former California Governor Jerry Brown pushed for high speed rail back in the 80s. Despite voters approving roughly $10 billion in 2008, it’s yet to be built. 

“Once you make the commitment, it then becomes a question of ‘do you have the political will to see through the investments?’” Mattingly said.

At a national level that appears to have jumped the tracks. Just this year, the Trump administration pulled the plug on both $4 billion in funding for California’s rail project and $63 million for a project connecting Dallas and Houston.

Experts are skeptical a proposed cross-country line from New York to L.A. will ever gain steam.

“I struggle with believing that we can build out a rail network that competes effectively with air,” Mattingly said.