Ziv
Conductor
Musk announced recently that the Boring Company had reduced the price of tunneling from $1Bn a mile to $10Mn for a 1.14 mile section of tunnel. It is kind of apples to oranges since the tunnels he was comparing to were larger (28'?) than the 14' bore that Godot produces, which when finished yields an interior that is 12' wide and tall. If the Boring Company can build a moderately larger boring machine capable of boring a tunnel large enough for the NEC Regionals and the Avelia Libertys while still keeping the price down to around $50Mn a mile, Amtrak might be able afford to straighten out the 4 or 5 (or more) slowest points on the NEC without exceeding current expenditures by a ruinous amount. I don't know how much tunnel would be needed at Frankford Junction or Elizabeth NJ to straighten out the line enough to allow a faster allowed speed. But if you could take a 2 mile section of moderately tight curves on the surface and turn it into a 1.5 mile section of very gentle curves inside the tunnel with a much higher speed limit, it would seem to be worth doing if it only cost $75Mn and wouldn't interfere with regular operations while the boring was being done.
How big of a bore would they need to have as a finished product to leave enough room for tracks, trains and catenary? 17'? 19'?
I apologize for the "what if?" nature of the question, just wondering how much time would be saved. I think the amount of time saved would vary greatly, but it seems like it could save you 2 to 4 minutes per slow down area. I think I read that straightening the curves was on the 2010 Amtrak list of Capital Improvements, but it seems like tunneling using Boring Company technology may be able to be done cheaper (in the near future) than straightening the curves on the surface.
" Musk put the total price tag for the finished segment at about $10 million, including the cost of excavation, internal infrastructure, lighting, ventilation, safety systems, communications and a track. By comparison, he said, digging a mile of tunnel by "traditional" engineering methods costs up to $1 billion and takes three to six months to complete. "
How big of a bore would they need to have as a finished product to leave enough room for tracks, trains and catenary? 17'? 19'?
I apologize for the "what if?" nature of the question, just wondering how much time would be saved. I think the amount of time saved would vary greatly, but it seems like it could save you 2 to 4 minutes per slow down area. I think I read that straightening the curves was on the 2010 Amtrak list of Capital Improvements, but it seems like tunneling using Boring Company technology may be able to be done cheaper (in the near future) than straightening the curves on the surface.
" Musk put the total price tag for the finished segment at about $10 million, including the cost of excavation, internal infrastructure, lighting, ventilation, safety systems, communications and a track. By comparison, he said, digging a mile of tunnel by "traditional" engineering methods costs up to $1 billion and takes three to six months to complete. "