Atlantic City (Light or Mono Rail)

IIRC it was originally 90 mph; and the 80 mph limit was imposed due to a few grade crossing strikes.

Irish Chieftain wrote:IIRC it was originally 90 mph; and the 80 mph limit was imposed due to a few grade crossing strikes.

what is the track certified to? 90mph or even higher? It's pretty pathetic idiots that illegally cross the tracks should cause the line to be slowed.

Nasadowsk wrote:As for the AC line, it looks dead on straight in places, is there really any reason it's only 80mph, besides the occasional grade crossing and physical condition of the track?

Probably the FRA imposed 79mph speed limit for Passenger service without expensive signalling/track upgrades.

Amtrak installed signaling sufficient to allow 90 mph. No signaling has been removed, otherwise it would not be permisslbe to run at 80 mph (note that it is not 79 mph).

The maxium allowable speed has always been 80 mph, except for the stretch from NORTH POMO to the Absecon Passenger Station. Speed there was 90 mph under Amtrak.

80 is fast enough. Exactly what would be gained by higher speeds other than excessive equipment wear?

Even with the higher speeds, the 11 speed restrictions would still remain in force (unless someone has a method to suddenly turn a 60 mph curve into a 90 mph one). Very little would be gained. The service isn't broken, so why try to fix it?