Amtrak plans safety, speed improvements for Northeast curves

摘要

The site of last month's Amtrak train derailment is one of the curviest stretches of railroad in the Northeast Corridor, the heavily traveled route from Washington, D.C., to Boston. Curves not only are dangerous for trains traveling too fast on them, as Amtrak 188 was through the Frankford Junction curve on May 12, but they also prevent trains from maintaining their top speeds of 125 to 150 mph, still well slower than high-speed trains in China, Japan or France. An 18-car regional Amtrak train takes nearly 10 minutes to accelerate to its full speed.