Yeah but the corridor trains can get up to 100MPH
Yes the corridor trains are the fastest.......up to 100mph mostly on CN owned track but also on several stretches of VIA owned track too.
Note, please do not take the rant below as an attack either on
NS VIA Fan or on
amtrackwolverine, 'cause it is not meant to be in that spirit. It is meant to provide a slightly different perspective on the issue. Just take it as an alternate view of the world
Yup and in the UK they regularly run 1970s vintage Diesel HSTs at 125 mph with just TPW system, no auto stop, no speed enforcement, and they have only two serious accidents to show for their efforts in the last 40 years. And that too on vastly more dense operations in terms of tph than Canada and even US outside the NEC can only dream of. Different countries have developed through different accident and labor contract environment with different set of rules. Nothing new there.
In general all else being equal it is easier to maintain higher speeds over longer segments if the traffic density is relatively low and the tracks are relatively straight, two conditions that are not found in significant parts of the Amtrak NEC. Indeed the Acelas in NEC South manage a start to stop average of 86mph with no max speed above 135 mph and significant running (15 miles) through traffic density of 18 to 24 tph in each direction on a double track railroad in mostly 90mph territory. So indeed the New York - Boston performance is beaten by the same trains between New York and Washington DC running at slower top speed, just illustrating the point I am making further.
Amtrak’s Acela may have some impressive bursts of speed through Massachusetts and Rhode Island......but in the same length of time the Acela takes between Boston and New York: (3 1\2 hours).....VIA #57 a nearly all stops local in the corridor, using 55 year old rebuilt Budd equipment (some of it even xAmtrak Heritage cars) will cover the same distance and VIA's fastest train will have gone 50 miles further down the track.
Indeed the same Acela sets cannot beat the New York - Washington average speed even between Route 128 and Providence, which includes a bit of 150mph! And it comes nowhere near the start to stop averages routinely achieved between Metropark and Philadelphia of almost 90mph, and the Metropark - Trenton speed on the single Acela that stops at both of 102mph, start to stop, with max speed of only 135mph. That indeed has got to be the most exhilarating run today in all of Western hemisphere! Indeed that is why I don't bother schlepping up all the way to Boston to get exhilaration. I just drive down to Metropark and hop an Acela to Philly!
And that is the segment that is slated to get max speed upped to 160mph in the next few years.
All this has to do with track alignment and features in addition to what equipment is being used. The same VIA equipment could not pull off the O/D times on the New Haven line, and given the track alignment in the VIA corridor, there an Acela like setup would beat the pants off of the current VIA operation. As is likely they would probably be running at average speeds that are higher than the current maximum speeds. So at best it is a non-sequiter.
There is a section of CP track between Smiths Falls and Brockville (used by Ottawa trains) and I’ve always found it exhilarating to be rolling along this line at 95mph with the F40s horn constantly sounding for the numerous grade-crossing. This is “dark” (un-signaled) track but is currently being upgraded with signals.
If operating dark is so wonderful why are they bothering to spend money on signals?
Frankly things are run dark today simply because someone did not bother to spend the money to move things forward from the 19th to the 20th century, not because there is any great virtue in it otherwise.
And the long-distance trains are allowed high speed operation in the corridor too. The Ocean and Chaleur will be in the 95mph range west of Charny (Quebec City)..... Always fun to watch as we overtake everything over on parallel AutoRoute 20!
All Amtrak LD trains operate at 110mph on NEC. They operate at 110mph on certain other segments on the Empire Corridor too. But again this has more to do with what facilities are available in a given situation, more than whether VIA is better than Amtrak or vice-versa.
I’ve also been on the Canadian on the flat Saskatchewan prairie and clocked it in the 85mph range with my GPS. .......must be an impressive sight from line-side......25+ cars of perfectly matched Budd Stainless Steel and Domes!
And I have regularly clocked the Southwest Chief charging through new Mexico at 90mph. But again that is a pointless mine is bigger than yours discussion. The bottom line is both countries are firmly stuck in the 20th century with countries like India, as far as passenger railroading goes
And all this in US and Canada because some of the richest countries in the world are unwilling to invest in infrastructure to the extent that is reasonable. :-/