Amtrak wins praise for 110 mph train test

By Keith Laing - 10/19/12 04:43 PM ET

General Electric (GE) Co.'s transportation department is praising Amtrak for testing running trains at 110 miles per hour this week, saying that the increased speeds were made possible by its technology.

Amtrak ran a test train on a section of its tracks between Joliet and Normal, Ill., with Transportation Ray LaHood, Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) among the passengers.

GE Transportation said the higher speeds on the Amtrak line, which will eventually run from Chicago to St. Louis, were made possible by its Incremental Train Control System (ITCS).

"We are proud to help introduce the new 110 mph high-speed rail service in Illinois,’’ GE Transportation President Lorenzo Simonelli said in a statement. “GE has had a long and productive partnership with Amtrak, IDOT and FRA and we look forward to deploying this technology in other states to ensure safe, reliable, high-speed service. We are committed to providing the latest technology and products to high-speed rail programs worldwide as an essential part of sustainable infrastructure growth."

Amtrak's current high-speed service, the Acela trains in the Northeast U.S., have a top speed of 150 miles per hour. However, trains on the railway currently run as slowly as 80 miles per hour in some places because the trains share tracks with Amtrak's regular service, as the Chicago-to-St. Louis trains would.

Amtrak has told lawmakers it has a plan to increase the speed of its trains to 220 miles per hour by 2040, but Republicans in the House have derided the plan as unrealistic.

They have suggested that Amtrak turn its rail service in the Northeast, which is its most profitable area, over to private companies because they could develop high-speed rail more quickly.

Amtrak has tested higher-speed trains in other areas, most recently running 165 mile per hour trains in Maryland and Delaware.