Supposed to be done by next year right

2 tracks replacing 2 tracks. There won’t be more track added until the next bridge is designed and funded. Which won’t be soon.

They could always upgrade it down the line, I think the route Amtrak is focusing on is upgrading Catenary to Tension-Wired on areas that need it the most, they are strapped for money as usual

It might be the standard design for the route, especially since it’s carrying the taller transmission lines

I was surprised about that too

Likely to maintain hardware compatibility with the legacy catenary structures. Hardware used to support catenary on structures built in the 1930s can be used to support catenary on structures built in the 2020s.

@@kay1229 The New Haven Line upgrades to constant tension utilized the old catenary, for the most part. They just added counter weight cable and pulley system to keep the power lines at a constant level.

probably $$$. Track speed isn't likely to increase higher than the current limit of 90, so technically you don't need constant tension cat.

They are going to be constant tension catenary. They just made the support structures retain the PRR aesthetic.

uhhhh, to replace the bridge that this video is being filmed from.

The current bridge the trains travel on (which this is filmed from) sees heavy traffic, like 400+ trains per day, which works out to like more than 20/hour. It's a low bridge that's 107 years old, and must swing out of the way to allow river traffic, which causes delays, and after which it must be reset for trains which doesn't always work properly the first time, causing more delays. Additionally, its age restricts track speed to 60 mph even when it's not stopping trains cold. The replacement span is a high bridge which won't need to move for river traffic avoiding all of those issues and reducing maintenance and operational expenses, and the track speed will be improved to over 90 mph. There's a plan once the bridge under construction (Portal North Bridge) is completed to not only demolish the existing span but build a replacement on its existing alignment (Portal South Bridge) which would add more track capacity for commuter and corridor trains to pass one another and improve how many trains the corridor could see and how fast they could travel (as slow stopping trains wouldn't hold up fast non-stop trains). However, I think right now that's not funded.

probably the grinded rail

Crossing the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus, NJ, just west of New York. The old Portal Bridge is arguably an even worse chokepoint than the North River Tunnels themselves (built at the same time, and hence the “portal” name) because in addition to only having two tracks, it’s a swing bridge that opens surprisingly frequently and often gets stuck open, severing the NEC for potentially hours at a time. The new one is high enough to be a fixed span, so it won’t need the extreme speed restriction the drawbridge does, and it also won’t get stuck open. The plan is ultimately to double the new bridge, but just as with the tunnels the plan is to get two new tracks built first before the old ones become totally unusable, then worry about two more.

💯

Isnt it because there are other things going on that the country has to deal with? That instantly throw trains moving at the speed of light out the picture??