Arrive Magazine - May/June, 2008

All Aboard
Celebrate National
Train Day, May 10

The spring and summer seasons present our engineering crews with a full schedule of maintenance activities and capital improvements on our Northeast Corridor infrastructure.

This summer will be a particularly exciting one. In June we inaugurate a brand-new span on the Amtrak-owned Thames River Bridge, located between New London and Groton, Conn. The 90-year-old bridge will get a new vertical lift span, which—rather than tilting to open— elevates between two lift towers to allow marine traffic to pass. The multiyear project will improve the reliability of the bridge, which has been prone to operating failures, resulting in train delays.

The project will take four days while we float the counterweights and the span to the bridge on a barge and complete the installation. Accordingly, Saturday, June 14, through Tuesday, June 17, the bridge will be closed to rail traffic.

While work on the bridge proceeds, our engineering crews also will complete several key projects along the route from New Haven to Boston—in just four days. This rail outage will enable us to make investments that will significantly improve the reliability of the railroad and provide passengers with a smoother ride. The completed work also will minimize the chance of future disruptions due to track outages imposed during normal maintenance operations.

It’s a unique opportunity to have four straight days to conduct an around-the-clock maintenance blitz. And although there are long-term benefits for our passengers, some customers may be inconvenienced in the short term by

cancellations and adjusted schedules. Visit Amtrak.com or check with Amtrak personnel for schedule information.

We’re making investments in the railroad because nearly 26 million Americans choose Amtrak. You may have heard more people talk about Amtrak recently, because of a major initiative designed to generate more awareness of rail travel. This series of events, promotions and advertising campaigns culminates in the first-ever National Train Day on May 10, with musical and entertainment acts in Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Last year marked our fifth consecutive year of record ridership, as more Americans choose a hassle-free, energy-efficient, comfortable and convenient way to travel. We’re sponsoring National Train Day to thank our passengers and to invite more people to see what the fuss is all about.