The
Northeast Corridor (
NEC) is the busiest passenger
rail line in the
United States by ridership and service frequency.
[1] The route is fully electrified and serves a densely urbanized string of cities from
Washington, D.C. in the south through
Baltimore,
Wilmington,
Philadelphia,
Trenton,
Newark,
New York,
New Haven, and
Providence to
Boston. It also has branches connecting Philadelphia with
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; New Haven with
Hartford, Connecticut and
Springfield, Massachusetts; New York City with
Albany, New York, and several other commuter destinations. The busiest passenger rail station in the United States is
Pennsylvania Station in New York, the central hub of the Northeast Corridor.
The NEC is immediately identified by the use of overhead wires and high speed rolling stock. Mostly operated and owned by Amtrak, the NEC offers the only true high-speed rail service in the United States, Amtrak's Acela Express. Several commuter rail agencies provide local service along the Northeast Corridor, some electrified and some diesel-powered. These rail networks are MARC in Maryland and Washington DC, SEPTA in Pennsylania and Delaware, NJ Transit in New Jersey, Metro-North in New York and Connecticut, Shore Line East in Connecticut, and MBTA in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
The Northeast Corridor mainline closely parallels Interstate 95 for its entire length. The mainline can be seen from portions of Interstate 95.
The busiest part of the Northeast Corridor is the segment between Philadelphia and New York City. Amtrak operates 54 round-trip trains each weekday on this route, with an extra train (the Cardinal) on Wednesdays and Fridays. 344 round trips use the New York City to Philadelphia segment per week.
