All Aboard With Stephen: Infrastructure and Fleet

Explore how Amtrak is modernizing passenger rail. In this episode of 'All Aboard with Stephen,' Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner chats with Laura Mason, Amtrak Executive Vice President of Capital Delivery. They discuss exciting projects like the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program, Hudson Tunnel and new Acela trains that will enhance your customer experience and make your train travel smoother and faster. Discover how these investments will create a more enjoyable journey by reducing major bottlenecks, enhancing capacity to provide additional service and providing a more reliable ride.

Add a blue heart in the comments if you're just as excited as us about the future of passenger rail travel.

#Amtrak #HudsonTunnel #FrederickDouglassTunnel #Acela #PassengerRail #Baltimore #NewJersey #PassengerRail

[damianm-nordhorn]

MARNA!
(Make America a Railroad Nation Again)

[delurkor]

For the East Coast: Electrification extension to Richmond Va and Pittsburgh PA. These would be nice. West Coast: California high speed rail(I know that's not Amtrak but state and federal).

[stopsign]

Thanks Amtrak for more of these types of videos. Keep it up!

[transitimprover]

It’s great to see that Amtrak has a forward-looking mindset

[JKVisFX]

I am really looking forward to the faster tracks and new train sets. Getting more people out of cars and planes and onto trains is one, very important piece of combating climate change.

[gregtrain]

I'd love to see more routes available in my home state of Wisconsin. I hope the train returns to my home city of Madison soon.

[alexbochelmusic]

Yesss crushin it. Can’t wait for the tunnel through Baltimore

[lh]

Wow, you can tell she is motivated and loves this work. Thank you Laura Mason!

[GintaPPE]

Amtrak should learn some lessons from Brightline and passenger railroads of decades past: money is not made in moving passengers, but in the real estate and express freight business that comes with having a public image of speed, reliability, and convenience.

Don't stop when the infrastructure is up to a state of good repair. Keep those civil engineers and planners employed by developing land around stations. This is a chance to not just make Amtrak better, but to make it sustainable and no longer reliant on federal grants for new projects.

[panamapippi]

I can't wait for the new Acela; I want to be the first to ride this train.

[coleallen]

I hope they make a decision about the new long distance fleet soon!

[transitimprover]

Amtrak doesn’t contract out and does its own construction? Amazing!

[grommit]

I live in Connecticut and have used Amtrak and CT Rail more times that I can recall...

1) There are old (and vacant) properties immediately next to or just within eyesight of the Waterbury station and in the south end of Hartford. These would be great for a New England version of the Auto Train. The recent tanker fire in Norwalk, CT demonstrates the need to reduce vehicle congestion on all roadways. Why not create new Auto Train hub in Connecticut for all of New England and the rest of the nation? If tunnels and bridges have height restrictions, just use single level auto carriers.

2) Hartford Union Station is long overdue for the installation of a second track. It currently serves 5 trains (Vermonter, NE Regional, Valley Flyer, Hartford Line, and CT Rail Hartford Line). Remove some of the overhead steel structure section by section to replace all the steel beams with new ones. This can be achieved in less than a decade without creating a Connecticut version of the Big Dig if I-84 and I-91 is slated to be underground. There are also too many buildings and property owners in the way of a realignment to the west.

3) Connecticut also has quite a few old rail lines that are not utilized for passenger service anymore. Freight and occasional excursion trains use are the primary users. These lines go North/South and East/West. Two of these even go into Massachusetts where they connect with their East/West mainline to Boston and Albany. Just saying that the general land is there and should be used instead of putting more money into already dangerous roadways for cars.

4) Springfield Union Station (in Massachusetts) is quite large and has the capacity to expand to 3 or more island platforms if additional service in New England is carried out.

I support passenger train service by Amtrak, CT Rail, and any other company wanting to provide this mode of transportation for the public. It is much more relaxing and relives the stresses and hazards inherent to vehicles and trucks. Use the rail lines where track already is instead of expanding roadways. Work smarter not harder.

[jonw]

I would like to see the future proposed routes opened up / opened back up. I would also like to see the Cardinal have a couple more days a week added. I doubt 7 days a week is possible for it, but only 3 per week is a bit too restrictive.

[BuilderJay]

Love travleing on Amtrak! But you need to do something for Chicago! They are LACKING on washing the Superliner cars. I've seen sooo many post that the train are dirty! WIndows are dirty that passengers are washing them when they can!! (Lower levels). Been told the wash system not working anymore??

[peterdowden]

Nice effort from an exemplar company as far as pr goes... I have a fleet question: wouldn't the North East Corridor work better if all the long distance was done with New Acelas, not a mixture of them and Airos? Is it just the capital cost that precludes this?

[marysmolarz]

Add the possibility of passenger train rides through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!

[ojsimpson]

Go expanding bit by bit out from your nodes along the northeast and southwest, ex. SW Chief and NE Regional

[willgibson]

Can you please make a video about Connecticut river railroad bridge project

[longislandsound]

Get airo on the NEC first, where it will actually make money for the rest of the system