NORTHEAST PROJECTS & RAIL HISTORY

The use of railroad rights-of-way for hosting buried high voltage lines (500kV, HVDC) is being pioneered in the Northeast by the Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE), which delivers low-cost Quebec hydropower across the Canada-U.S. border to its southern terminus in New York City, in part  along more than 100 miles of CSX railroad right-of-way.  On schedule to be energized in Spring 2026

REGIONAL  HISTORY: Railroqading is over 250 years  old in the Northeast quadrant of the U.S. It has grown  chaotically, with competing lines offering dense, often duplicative coverage for both passenger and freight service.  The “Northeast Rail Corridor” (NEC) connects New England (Boston) to the Mid-Atlantic (Washington, D.C.), by North America’s longest stretch of electrically powered railroad.   NEC’s principal owner is Amtrak, but electrically powered regional passenger rail systems also serve Atlantic coastal cities over shared trackage. Freight moves over three major (Class I) railroads - CSX, Canadian National, and Norfolk Southern - and dozens of smaller Class II and III railroads also known as ‘shortlines’. All freight trains (electric traction motors) are currently diesel powered.