njt/mnrrbuff wrote:There is still a grade crossing for farm equipment, I believe, between Mt. Joy and Elizabethtown. Yes, the three street grade crossings have been eliminated. I’m not sure if you would be saving much travel time but upping the speeds from 110-125 mph.
I don't recall if private crossings count in terms of FRA rules vis a vis speeds.
electricron wrote:It's 104 rail miles between Philadelphia's 30th Street and Harrisburg, with 10 intermediate train stations for Keystone trains. That averages out to be approximately 10 miles between stations.
The longest segment is 26 miles between Parkesburg and Lancaster, the shortest segment is 4 miles between Coatesville and Parkesburg. I think it would be impossible for a train to reach 125 mph from a stop and slow down to stop again within 4 miles. I don't even think it could even reach 110 mph in that short segment. The only possible segment possibly long enough to reach 125 mph would be the longest segment of 26 miles ?????
Let's be honest , it's difficult for any train to go really fast when it's stopping on average every 10 miles.
In that case, there was no point in spending millions replacing roads that aren't that heavily used. In fact, it was stated multiple times whilst this construction was occurring that once the grade crossings were removed, MAS would increase. These were not roads that were unduly affected by trains crossing every half hour or so, and conversely, didn't have a particular issue with motorists improperly entering said crossings. You're right on the 4-mile aspect, but not all of the segments permit 110/125 anyway due to track curvature. Also, factor in that the Keystones are "light" for an Amtrak train, 5 amfleets + an ACS. Those trains are rockets, and accel/decel quickly by train standards. Again I'm not going to poke holes in the 4 mile distance, but, 26 miles is plenty of room, and some Keystone's run express and skip stops, further increasing inter-stop distance. I suspect the limiting factor is in fact curvature, even if you have no stations to deal with, your speed "bookends", for a given MAS, are the endpoints at which that speed is no longer safe...e.g a curve of an insufficient radius. It's possible that there simply isn't a stretch of track PHL-HAR that is straight enough, long enough, to allow a train to hit 125. It's not like they cruise along at 110 now...you get up to speed for a bit, then drop, then back up. Regardless, seems pointless to have spent the money on these crossing removals when there are other improvements they could have made with that money on the route. Also, it's a good marketing tool. Comparatively, upcoming Acela II MAS increase on NJ race track, won't save much time. But it will expose NEC travelers btwn WAS-NYP, to true HSR, making them more likely to support future Amtrak efforts. Same thing with the Keystone. ++ Speed--> market it as fastest commuter-intercity rail in US, "higher speed rail", even if it saves 5 mins, doesn't matter, people like speed.
-AC