Amtrak planning host of projects in 'aggressive' 2010 campaign

Amtrak's president and CEO announced Monday that the passenger-rail company plans to replace its entire fleet of cars and locomotives, including those on the Acela line, as part of its package of 2010 initiatives.

The company is also looking to reduce the travel time between New York and Washington and between New York and Boston by 15 minutes, Joseph Boardman said during a "2010 Preview" conference call held Monday morning.

The goals reflect an "aggressive game plan full of major projects with new initiatives," Boardman said during the 35-minute call with reporters.

Among its other initiatives, Amtrak plans to partner with 25 states to support more than 100 projects it has submitted for federal stimulus funds. Under the stimulus act, $8 billion was earmarked for intercity and high-speed rail. Boardman said the federal Department of Transportation is expected to announce this winter which projects were selected.

Boardman also briefly mentioned the replacement of the Niantic River bridge and tie replacement work along the Northeast Corridor. Each of those is considered key to any upgrades that will enable commute times to decrease.

"We have for a long time looked at what it would take to continue to reduce the time traveled between New York and Washington and between New York and Boston," Boardman said. "It's a combination of things that would need to occur."

He pointed to catenary improvements and improvements to the curves between New York and Boston, plus work on the approaches to tunnels, particularly in Baltimore. He put the cost for the New York-to-Boston improvements at $10 billion and for the New York-to-Washington project at $6 billion.

Boardman also quashed any talk of a partial privatization along the Northeast Corridor. When asked to shed light on the status of any such talks, he said there "is no light as far as I'm concerned."

"Amtrak is America's railroad, we do a great job, we're going to operate the Northeast Corridor, we're going to offer those services," he said. "We do have lots of competition coming at us, a lot of foreign competition. … We need to operate efficiently, and we are doing that."

Boardman said the fleet replacement will be included in Amtrak's budget request to Congress next month. He did not elaborate on a potential timetable for receiving the funding or for purchasing the new equipment, but did say the replacement would be gradual and would ideally include a manufacturing base located in the United States.

"It's a combination of us trying to replace the fleet that needs to be replaced, and a plan - and you'll see that plan in February - that shows a regular replacement of equipment, both cars, locomotives and other pieces of equipment."

Boardman also said Amtrak plans to install Positive Train Control, or technology that helps control train movements to prevent collisions, by the end of 2012, three years ahead of a congressional deadline for the rail industry.

A press release issued by Amtrak Monday said the rail company will strengthen security by increasing its emphasis on random and unpredictable patrols and baggage screenings and expanding its K-9 explosives-detection teams. It said passengers "will see a more interactive police and security presence."