Amtrak Looking to Reduce Travel Time Between East Coast Cities

If you’ve ever taken rail from Washington, DC to Boston (or from Philly or New York to these destinations), you already know how convenient it is. I remember taking this trip a few years ago; I ended up falling asleep in DC on the train and when I woke up, I was almost in Boston. I couldn’t believe how quickly I arrived at my destination.

It looks like Amtrak is aiming to make this trip even shorter by establishing the nation’s first high-speed rail line. Margaret Rhodes writes –

The proposed rail line would be completed by 2040, with a launch for some sections as early as 2015. Funding has yet to be finalized, but Amtrak has already requested $2.5 billion from Congress for 2011, and earlier this year Obama earmarked $8 billion of the 2009 stimulus package for high-speed rail service. The rest would come from private investment, according to CEO Joseph Boardman.

With the Next-Generation High-Speed Rail a trip between New York City and Boston would take only 84 minutes, a trek that currently takes over 2.5 hours by Amtrak’s Acela train, or four hours by bus.

Does this mean I could get to DC from Philly in 20 minutes???

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