Climate Change Is Amtrak's Third Rail

摘要

By the middle of this century, climate change is likely to punch a hole through the busiest stretch of rail in North America. Parts of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor route, which carries 12 million people each year between Boston and Washington, face "continual inundation." Flooding, rising seas, and storm surge threaten to erode the track bed and knock out the signals that direct train traffic. The poles that provide electricity for trains are at risk of collapse, even as power substations succumb to floodwaters. "If one of the segments of track shuts down, it will shut down this segment of the NEC," warned members of Amtrak's planning staff. "There is not an alternate route that can be used as a detour."