Special Report: 2023 Trends in Passenger Rail

Special Report: 2023 Trends in Passenger Rail
June 6, 2023

Renewal appears to be the overarching trend with significant federal investment coming in for station improvements and rail vehicle replacement, as well as work progressing on expansion and maintenance projects.
Mischa Wanek-Libman


According to ridership data collected by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), heavy rail, light rail and commuter rail accounted for 46 percent of all transit trips in 2022. While the percentage is in line with where it has been historically, the success story is the increase in ridership rail modes have experienced over the calendar year. The 2022 year-to-date change for heavy rail shows a 36.55 percent increase, light rail shows a 37.85 percent increase and commuter rail shows a 51.82 percent increase. Systems including San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, El Paso’s Sun Metro streetcar, Sound Transit’s Link light rail, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Maryland Transit Administration, New Mexico Rail Runner Express and Virginia Railway Express all experienced year-to-date changes in 2022 that were more than 100 percent.

Passenger rail and transit service providers continue to progress key projects, with the goal of delivering better service to riders. Concerning the Northeast Corridor, several projects have marked significant milestones including the Gateway Development Commission, which finalized agreements between funding partners on the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing – Section 3 project that will allow the project to move into construction. The Hudson Yards Concrete Casing – Section 3 is a critical component of the Hudson Tunnel Project. Amtrak began early construction work on the B&P Tunnel Replacement Program, which includes replacing aging wood crossties with new concrete crossties, installing new rail and completing track drainage improvements. Construction on the Norwalk River Railroad (Walk) Bridge Replacement Project started in May 2023. The existing four-track swing Walk Bridge, which hosts 175 passenger and freight trains per day, will be replaced with a structure that has two independent, moveable spans that will improve the reliability of the bridge.

However, not all passenger rail projects experienced progress. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) made the decision to stop work on its planned King of Prussia (KOP) Rail project to dedicate its financial resources toward critical infrastructure work rather than advance the expansion project. SEPTA leaders expressed disappointment but explained the authority’s capital budget has a lack of flexibility that would not allow further pursuit of the KOP Rail project. Metrolinx also saw further delay to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project, which was supposed to be in operation in late 2022 but did not open with Metrolinx placing the blame at the feet of its contractor, Crosslinx Transit Solutions. Metrolinx has vowed to work the Crosslinx Transit Solutions to get the quality issues with the project corrected and the project tested and operational.

One agency working to reduce risk associated with delays and cancellations of large project is the Metropolitan Council, which created a new regional transit infrastructure division in April that will provide what the entity calls “a more consistent and robust approach to complicated and critical infrastructure projects.” The new regional transit infrastructure division will manage the development and construction of regional transit projects that are significant in size and complexity and have substantial financial impact, including light rail and bus rapid transit projects. .............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/article/53060536/special-report-2023-trends-in-passenger-rail