It would appear that the condition of cross ties could make or break this proposal. At anywhere of $50 - 100 havng to replace too many might be a financial deal breaker. Additional ballast and tamping costs would be much less. If additional ballast can increease MAX speeds just 10 MPH in many locations then enroute tiimes can be reduced by an hour or more Signaling the route especially in the US can be quite expensive if PTC is necessary.
Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 20, 2022 3:58 pm Do you think SLR would be resistant or would welcome some additional revenue?The biggest worry is G&W, the parent company, who don't seem to be all that receptive to passenger ops on their freight routes, excluding Amtrak.
Then you have the SLR infrastructure, which is dark territory, curvy track, and hard to place road 30-35mph freights around 59mph passenger trains, when all three would be in the same territory in the same timeframe with an overall lack of long enough sidings between the Canadian border and Lewiston.
And that's ignoring the locals that work between S. Paris/Danville, occupying the lower end of the line into evening hours.