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Is there any update on the suspected introduction date of the Avelia trainsets? Is there any hope of rolling them out before 2025?

Yes, but the speed limits on Bush and Gunpowder are above 110, no?

If the Susquehanna River Bridge is replaced with a 160-mph-capable structure, would there be any speed restrictions below 110 between Wilmington and the curves east of the Union Tunnels in East Baltimore? What is the MAS through Bayview Yard, the town of North East, and Perryville?

JJS if you're talking about Acela with tilt I believe that Metropark and Metuchen are 110, not 90.

The draconian Amtrak attendants in Acela first class have pulled the "you will walk the plank" Spiel about getting close to the galley to both me and my girlfriend on our separate first-time trips via Acela first-class. It was enough to make me choose Business over First on the Acela, even if I...

Whenever I have driven to Philadelphia or to the Main Line suburbs, I have taken 95 rather than 295 from NYC.

A fantastic scene to imagine!

And if we're really talking about back in the day, the Southern ran the Crescent, Southerner, Pelican, and Piedmont, with the Washington-Atlanta-New Orleans express offering a connection to the PRR from WAS to NYP.

The curviest and slowest portions of the line, though, are west of the Thames River (Old Saybrook-New London). New London's trackage, which would be replaced by the western portion of the bypass, has numerous sharp curves and impossible-to-remove grade crossings that limit trains to 25 mph...

Is there a realistic fix? That's a question many people have been asking for a long time, without easy answers. If the New Haven Line is the NEC's Achilles Heel, then the portion of the line between Stamford and New Haven is the Achilles Tendon of the Achilles Heel. Between NYP and Stamford...

There's also a connecting track from the ex-Reading to the ex-PRR just south of North Philadelphia, which wouldn't require re-activating any ROW or running through the Center City Tunnels.

While the B&P will be eventually replaced, I think the Union Tunnels east of Baltimore Penn Station may still be an obstacle. Do they support Plate F? I know they are less restrictive than the B&P, but am not sure of the actual clearance there.

I believe that the southern portion of the curve is 2° (3000 ft), which is sharper than the northern portion. While that's not sharp for most of the United States, for the NEC that's pretty sharp. With 6" superelevation an Amfleet should be able to traverse the curve at about 88 mph. As...

Your second and third questions actually go together a bit. It's very difficult (is it even possible?) to superelevate a portion of track with turnouts/switches on it. Because you need space on each side of a curve for a spiral from maximum superelevation back to flat, Harrison is very limited...

Amtrak Employee Timetable has speeds from western limit of North River Tunnel to Portal Bridge at 90 mph. Admittedly I don't have current ETTs but I imagine not much has changed since my copy. What JJS says about Harrison Curve is correct. I will only add that the geometry there is...

As I understand it, between NYP and PHL the following curves are sharper than .8 degrees: Portal (2 degrees, 90 mph) Harrison (3 degrees? 45 mph) Elizabeth (S-Curve used to be 55 mph? Now something like 80 for Acelas?) Metropark (1 degree? S-Currve 110 mph) Metuchen (1 degree? S-Curve 110 mph)...

The two kind of add up to create the maximum speed that a train can traverse a curve. Superelevation (also called Cant) refers to the banking of the track through a curve, which allows trains to traverse the curve at greater speed than if it were flat. Superelevation is measured in the inches...

I believe that Amfleets are cleared for 5" unbalanced and the Acela is cleared for 7". I've heard as well that the Avelia Liberty could be cleared for 9", but it's my understanding that that testing/certification process is still ongoing.

If you consider the Southwest Chief separately from the rest of Amtrak's network though, aren't you enjoying a sort of double-dip? BNSF pays to maintain the Transcon. How could the Southwest Chief ever be profitable if it had to pay its share of infrastructure over its route? Would it even be...

I think the Metroliners as EMUs also theoretically helped acceleration and deceleration around some of the NEC's restrictive curves, the time penalty at curves like Elizabeth and Frankford Junction are reduced when you can get back up to speed more quickly.