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| Re: ARC to GCT - Why Not the Option of Choice? (879686) | |||
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Re: ARC to GCT - Why Not the Option of Choice? |
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Posted by WillD on Tue Dec 29 01:44:56 2009, in response to ARC to GCT - Why Not the Option of Choice?, posted by JayMan on Tue Dec 29 01:12:51 2009. Because it wasn't a plan to begin with. It was nothing but a handwavingly vague outline of a plan which would place a number of obstacles in the way of fully utilizing the terminal. They did not address the technical, political, bureaucratic, or economic concerns related to through running NJT's AC powered equipment on the Metro North's DC system. They also did not explain how exactly NJT would be accommodated on Metro North's platforms. NJT's study claimed it'd be 'through running', yet we can't even get that off the ground on our existing end-to-end connection between commuter rail systems at Penn Station. NJT needs to work on gaining through running with the LIRR before they make it a critical component of any multibillion dollar project.Of course thanks to the useless 7 train extension's insanely long tail tracks and NJT's desire for dual fail locomotives any shallow ARC option is now dead. The Penn Station connector tracks died about the time the MTA decided 1200 foot long tail tracks were required for the 7 train. The nail in the coffin was the prospect of the ALP45DPs being unable to pull a train up the steeper grade on the eastern side of the Hudson. Finally, there is little or no prospect for building anything east of Penn Station while the DEP's first water tunnel is in service. That tunnel is of indeterminate structural integrity and the DEP has rightly forbidden any major tunnelling efforts in and around their earliest project. Any connector between NYP and GCT will require a steep grade to reach bedrock to duck below the supports of the buildings above. That means it'd come much too close to the first water tunnel for the DEP to sign off on it. With any luck the first water tunnel will finally be closed for structural inspections when the third water tunnel is opened. But that won't be until after 2020 or so. That's a very long time to wait to begin construction of the final phase of the project which will finally allow it to be fully utilized. However, if we do the 6 track 34th St Station now then we can get somewhere between 15 and 24tph by 2016. After that we can get the TBMs going again once the first water tunnel is squared away and get started on a project which would eliminate the need for terminals in Manhattan. IMHO it should be a solution that would enable a total of 60tph to enter the city from NJ while enabling an easy cross platform transfer to GCT, and avoid any problem created by through running. |
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