The first phase of a Northeast corridor high-speed rail project should connect New York and Philadelphia, Bob Yaro, president of Regional Plan Association, told the audience at a forum on high-speed rail in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
High-speed rail would cut travel times to 38 minutes between New York Penn Station and a new high-speed rail station in Philadelphia at Market East. This new station would be strategically located at the center of the largest job cluster in the Philadelphia region. This phase of the project would require two new dedicated tracks, new railroad cars, and new tunnels under the Hudson River west of Manhattan and under Center City Philadelphia.
High-speed rail is an expensive undertaking, but it can be paid for using a combination of innovative public financing mechanisms and various forms of private funding. New or reorganized governance structures to manage the Northeast rail corridor and consolidate ownership of the existing infrastructure are needed. Amtrak has already taken bold steps in this direction.
Mr. Yaro was joined at the event in Philadelphia by Stephen Gardner, vice president of Amtrak's new Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Investment Development business line, and Paul Levy, president & CEO of Center City District. The event was organized by PenTrans and sponsored by Parsons Brinkerhoff.
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