page_title: Northeast Corridor
section_title: Northeast Corridor Improvement Project
hierarchical_section_title: Northeast Corridor / History / Founding and operation of Amtrak / Northeast Corridor Improvement Project
caption_attribution_description: English: Track work as part of the massive Northeast Corridor Improvement Project in April 1979
context_page_description: The Northeast Corridor is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The NEC closely parallels Interstate 95 for most of its length, and is the busiest passenger rail line in the United States both by ridership and by service frequency as of 2013. The NEC carries more than 2,200 trains daily. Branches to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Massachusetts, and various points in Virginia are not considered part of the Northeast Corridor, despite frequent service from routes that run largely on the corridor.
  The corridor is used by many Amtrak trains, including the high-speed Acela Express, intercity trains, and several long-distance trains. Most of the corridor also has frequent commuter rail service, operated by the MBTA, Shore Line East, Metro-North Railroad, Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, SEPTA, and MARC. The corridor is also shared by a rapid transit system in a short part of New Jersey, the PATH train. Several companies run freight trains over sections of the NEC.
context_section_description: In 1976, Congress authorized an overhaul of the system between Washington and Boston. Called the Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP), it included safety improvements, modernization of the signaling system by General Railway Signal, and new Centralized Electrification and Traffic Control (CETC) control centers by Chrysler at Philadelphia, New York and Boston. It allowed more trains to run faster and closer together, and set the stage for later high-speed operation. NECIP also introduced the AEM-7 locomotive, which lowered travel times and became the most successful engine on the Corridor. The NECIP set travel time goals of 2 hours and 40 minutes between Washington and New York, and 3 hours and 40 minutes between Boston and New York. These goals were not met because of the low level of funding provided by the Reagan Administration and Congress in the 1980s.
  Electrification between New Haven and Boston was to be included in the 1976 Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act.
  The last grade crossings between New York and Washington were closed about 1985; eleven grade crossings remain in Connecticut.
caption: Northeast Corridor Improvement Project track work in April 1979
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