Proposed High-Speed Boston-NYC Rail Plan May Include Unique Shortcut

President Joe Biden's promise to improve the U.S. infrastructure is renewing interest in implementing a high-speed railroad between Boston and New York, which may include a unique shortcut between the two cities.

The North Atlantic Rail plan, which was developed at the University of Pennsylvania, would include a 16-mile tunnel under the Long Island sound that would continue the railway for trains to travel 200 MPH, which would reduce trips between the cities to an hour and a half, a reduction of nearly two hours from the current commute, CBS Boston reports.

Amtrak trains are currently capable of traveling at up to 150 MPH, but rarely do because of their aging tracks, which would need to be replaced. The project is anticipated to take about 20 years and cost more than $100 billion, CBS Boston reports.

“This probably should have been done decades ago,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, who co-chair of the coalition of interests pushing the plan, via CBS Boston. “But we now have a president that has made rail infrastructure a centerpiece of his campaign. We hope that Congress will rise to the moment and embrace the kind of initiative that America has done in the past and needs to do again.”

University of Pennsylvania planner and former president of the Regional Plan Association Robert Yaro is responsible for developing the latest model and said, because of recent improvements to tunneling technology, is a realistic concept.

“There are 36 tunnels of this length or longer that have been built or are under construction around the world in the last 10 years alone — over 100 in the last 20 years,” Yaro said via CBS Boston. “This is what the world is doing.”

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