Amtrak, Delaware complete Northeast Corridor track project

Amtrak, the Delaware Department of Transportation and the Delaware Transit Corp. (DTC) have completed a $71.2 million project to increase capacity on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Wilmington and Newark, Delaware, Amtrak announced yesterday.

The project, which represents a major infrastructure expansion project in the NEC, included installation of 1.5 miles of electrified main line third track between the Ragan and Yard interlockings, and a bridge replacement. The improvements eliminated a previous two track bottleneck and will improve on-time performance and reduction in delays, Amtrak officials said in a press release.

"The completion of this project marks an important rail capacity expansion milestone on the Northeast Corridor, resolving bottlenecks which previously constrained [the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority] and Amtrak from operating service at maximum capacity," said Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Bill Flynn.

The project was developed as part of a 2011 agreement between the DTC and Amtrak. It was funded through Amtrak funds and grants issued to the DTC from the Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Federal Highway Administration.