by west point
TheOneKEA wrote: ↑Tue Dec 26, 2023 8:20 pm Should the portion of the route from Wilmington/Newark to Dover be electrified, to allow for through services from Dover to Philly? I'm curious to know how many of the throngs of cars fighting their way down I-95 and I-495, to US 13 and DE 1 are coming from the parts of Philly served by SEPTA, and if a through service from somewhere in the Philly metropolitan region to Dover would actually draw away any of that through car traffic past Wilmington.The Delmarva Peninsula is pulling in tourists and others from Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. Ideally, train originates from NYC and travels down the corridor to NYC, Philly, and Wilmington before branching off down the Delmarva. And remember it's another 50 or so miles from Dover to Salisbury/Berlin, MD, where they propose the terminus to be. I don't think electrifying the line would make sense considering the investment involved, let alone the mix of freight involved on the line too. Even in its heyday as the PRR's backdoor route to Hampton Roads, the line saw a descent amount of trains, particularly during the War period, and was only double tracked but nothing more. Today's it's a single track line with passing sidings (yet more likely needed for the restoration of passenger rail).
It certainly could be electrified on either the PRR 12kV 25Hz system or a modern 25kV 60Hz system, but should it be electrified?