How Amtrak Might Redefine Downtown Philadelphia

The big pricetag received most of the attention when Amtrak released its updated vision for passenger rail in the Northeast Corridor [PDF] earlier this summer: $151 billion. But it was a quieter announcement, relegated to tiny font on a service map, that's making the most noise in Philadelphia at the moment. There Amtrak suggested that Market East Station — and no longer 30th Street Station — should become the city's main rail hub in the high-speed era.

The main reason for the shift is speed. Amtrak officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer that trains entering the city from New York slow to 50 m.p.h. near the Betsy Ross Bridge, just north of the city, and again to 30 m.p.h. near the zoo, just north of 30th Street Station. Those speeds might be doubled with some track upgrades, but they'll never achieve the 37-minute travel time Amtrak wants between Philadelphia and New York by 2040.