Need for Speed? How About a 90-Minute Train Ride Between Boston and New York?

If we could get from Boston to New York in an hour-and-a-half, I think just about every one of us would agree that this would be absolutely incredible and lucrative.  Now, when I mentioned this to one of my colleagues, he said "On the Jetsons, maybe."  Having a high speed train of this power cutting that often traffic-filled drive in more than half would be the fastest way to get between the two cities.

Enter North Atlantic Rail, who says with 11% of the country's population and 14% of the gross national product for the United States being in New England and New York City, we are the economic engine of the country.  Founded in 2017, the North Atlantic Rail initiative is to make this 90-minute train a done deal between Boston, Providence, New Haven, Hartford, Manhattan, and Long Island.

The cost?  $105 billion, with an estimated 20 years to complete. This project has loads of bi-partisan lawmaker support, and once complete, would be operated by Amtrak and local transit agencies around New England and New York state. This would be the first high speed railroad in the country at up to 225 miles per hour. It would also be with the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021, and its new baseline funding level is at a historic high of $303.5 billion for Department of Transportation programs for highways, roads, and bridges, according to the bipartisan United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The North Atlantic Rail says the money is there, and waiting for allocation.

Whoa!  The reduction in traffic and air pollution would hopefully reduce our carbon footprint by 50% in the next 10 years, so fingers crossed.