The FRA’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) Future is a long-term plan aimed at improving the nation’s Northeast Corridor.^[1] The NEC Future plan consists of four components, also known as the Selective Alternative, which are: Improve rail service, Modernize NEC infrastructure, Expand rail capacity, and Study New Haven to Providence capacity. These four components all aim to improve the reliability and performance of the NEC system, whether it be through intercity or regional means.^[2] The Selective Alternative looks to do four major things: Improve rail service by increasing frequency of trains, decreasing travel time, and making better passenger convenience; Modernize NEC infrastructure by having corridor-wide repair and replacing and fixing parts to bring the entire system to increased reliability; Expand rail capacity by adding new infrastructure between cities and increasing train speeds and capacity; and Study New Haven to Providence capacity. ^[3]

The NEC Future ROD (Record of Decision) was issued in July 2017, which marked the completion of the Tier 1 environmental review process. The ROD is what basically lays out everything involved with the project, including things like the plan itself and feedback from various individuals, organizations, stakeholders, etc.^[1] There is no listed completion date for the NEC Future and Selective Alternative.

The need for an NRP was brought up in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008. However, before the official plan could be drafted, the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) required a Preliminary National Rail Plan (PNRP) to be made first, which was submitted to congress on October 15, 2009. On December 16, 2009 the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 was enacted into law and established the delivery date for the NRP. The delivery date for the NRP was September 15, 2010.^[4]

With the nation’s infrastructure growing, the transportation used in the nation also needs to grow. With that in mind, the NRP’s main goal is to increase the size of the nation’s railway capacity to include 70million more people and 2.8 billion tons more of freight within the next 25 years, and 100 million more people and 4 billion tons more of freight within the next 40 years. The NRP also looks to continue improving the rail systems safety.^[5]

Another one of the NRP’s big goals is the introduction of a high-speed train made for intercity travel. These trains would be much faster than normal trains, ranging in speed from 125mph to 250 mph, and capable of delivering a passenger 500 miles in about 2-3 hours depending on the train’s speed. In smaller areas, such as regional ones, the trains would not e as quick, only going somewhere between 90 mph and 125 mph. There are no set costs for this system however. But the FRA argues that the benefits a high-speed rail system would bring outweigh the costs for the system, claiming that the high-speed rail system would reduce car traffic and eliminate the need for short-haul flights. It would also reduce congestion in America’s more populated regions and boost manufacturing activity.^[5]

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