Amtrak operates a 60 Hz traction power system along the Northeast Corridor between New Haven, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts. This system was built in the late 1990s and supplies locomotives with power from an overhead catenary system at 25 kV alternating current with a frequency of 60 Hz. The system is also commonly known as the Northend Electrification, in contrast to the Southend Electrification that runs between New York City and Washington, D.C.
History
In 1992, Congress passed the Amtrak Authorization and Development Act requiring Amtrak to establish high-speed rail passenger service between New York City and Boston. The goal was to reduce travel time in this corridor from 4.5 hours to less than 3 hours. Revenue from this service was expected to play a critical role in helping Amtrak achieve operating self-sufficiency by 2003. Before Amtrak could begin high-speed rail service, of rail line between New Haven and Boston had to be electrified. Previously, electrified Metroliner service was available between Washington, D.C., and New Haven, Connecticut. At New Haven, Amtrak had to switch to a diesel locomotive to complete the trip to Boston. In addition to the higher operating speeds possible with electrified service, Amtrak also saves the time it spent on switching locomotives. By the time the project was complete, Amtrak was expected to have spent over $600 million to electrify the line between New Haven and Boston. Including extensive track and infrastructure improvements besides the electrification, the project cost $1.6 billion.
In December 1995, Amtrak awarded a $321 million contract to Balfour Beatty Construction, Inc./Mass. Electric Construction (BBC/MEC) to verify and complete the Morrison-Knudsen design and build the electrification system. The system was to be completed by June 1999; electrification system ground-breaking ceremony took place the following July.
Amtrak's contractor faced a difficult working environment in the Boston Terminal Area because of the extensive work being undertaken for the Central Artery project, which involved over 500 employees in the South Boston Terminal area alone and entailed on-site storage of a large amount of heavy construction equipment and supplies. The Central Artery project was ongoing before the electrification project started. Another factor complicating electrification work in the Boston Terminal Area is the large volume of rail traffic. Over 250 Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter trains and 20 Amtrak trains operate through the area daily. As a result, taking track out of service to work on the electrification was sometimes difficult.
Electrification work on the five movable bridges between Old Saybrook and Mystic in Connecticut was also a challenge, as each one required a unique electrification design and construction solution. The bridges span busy waterways shared by pleasure craft, commercial carriers, and military traffic. Unlike most movable highway bridges, these bridges are usually open, and are closed only to accommodate approaching train traffic.
After several delays, service with electric locomotives between New Haven and Boston began on January 31, 2000. Amtrak began operating its higher-speed Acela Express service on December 11, 2000.
Types of stations
System architecture
The basic system unit is an elementary electrical section consisting of a segment of one or more parallel tracks, each with a contiguous contact (or catenary or trolley) wire for the locomotive pantograph and an electrically separate feed wire. Elementary electrical sections are separated by section breaks where the contact and feeder wires can be interrupted with motor-operated air switches to isolate a section in the event of a fault or to permit maintenance.
An electrical section is a collection of elementary electrical sections, section breaks, air switches and paralleling stations between a substation and a switching station.
At each substation, utility-supplied single phase power is transformed and injected into the two electrical sections terminating at that substation. There are eight electrical sections in the system, two for each substation. The substations drive the contact and feed wires in a split phase arrangement so that each wire is at 25 kV with respect to the grounded running rails with 50 kV between them.