Re: Nisqually Junction question
Author: DCA
Date: 05-25-2019 - 21:30
The curve has been there for years. The track has to curve in order to align with the double-track main before entering the main at Nisqually. Of course for a lot of money, the curve could be rebuilt to be less severe. However, that would entail a new bridge over I-5 and obtaining the land necessary to widen out the curvature. Not cheap.
One thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned much, if at all, is why Amtrak/WashDOT/Sound Transit didn't come up with the idea of a temporary maximum speed on the cut-off of perhaps 50 mph, for a week or two while the crews got familiar with both the district and the new locomotives. A common-sense, safety-oriented approach that would not have affected schedules at all, based on the shorter distance traveled as compared to the original route along the Puget Sound.