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Feds Back Ambitious Plan To Speed Up Northeast Rail Service

Michael Dwyer
/
AP
An Amtrak Acela train travels through Old Lyme, Conn., in October.

The Federal Railroad Administration has proposed a $120 billion plan to expand rail service on the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston. That would include some new tracks, new lines, and more trains.

The FRA says most of the railways on the line should be expanded from two to four tracks, and it calls for direct and frequent service to Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts.

The plan would also increase the number of daily trains between New York City and Boston from 19 to nearly 100, and allow for trains that could reach speeds of up to 220 miles an hour. They say that could cut travel time between the two cities by up to an hour each way.

The FRA says the plan would create 47,000 jobs a year for the next 30 years. The plan still needs the support of the eight states involved, and President-elect Donald Trump, who has said he wants to spend up to a trillion dollars on infrastructure nationwide over the next 10 years. 

Davis Dunavin loves telling stories, whether on the radio or around the campfire. He started in Missouri and ended up in Connecticut, which, he'd like to point out, is the same geographic trajectory taken by Mark Twain.