Rail

Project Title: NE Rail Corridor Homeland Security Coordination and Business Continuity

Business Case:

The NE Rail Corridor (Corridor) is a vital component of our nation’s critical infrastructure that enables delivery of passengers, goods and services between Boston and Virginia. The Northeast mega-region, which is served by Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, had a $2.4-trillion economy in 2005, one-fifth of the nation’s gross domestic product (1). The Corridor is the busiest passenger line in the United States.

The Corridor is owned by AMTRAK, however, numerous passenger and rail carriers use the right-of-way. A major interruption along this route has the potential to impose catastrophic passenger and freight transportation disruptions and downstream impact on national travel, the nation’s logistics system, and the associated economy. The Corridor users along with those who support Corridor operations, security, and emergency response can prevent or minimize service interruptions if this enterprise can plan and enact a shared and coordinated approach to Corridor continuity of operations.

Problem/Opportunity Statement:

During a meeting of the All Hazards Consortium (Philadelphia, June 2011), a number of the Northeast Rail Corridor carriers and members of the emergency management community discussed the challenges of security, operations, information exchange, sharing of Best Practices, and coordination of emergency protocols and response among the Northeast Corridor users. The parties agreed that a unified effort aimed at solidifying regional business continuity during rail corridor disruptions would serve all parties well.

Two separately managed and funded programs emerged from this discussion; a New Jersey UASI initiative focused on a portion of the Corridor line in New Jersey and a similar WMATA project focused on the National Capital Region. The similarity of the two complimentary efforts led to a subsequent discussion among All Hazards Consortium attendees resulting in agreement to actively coordinate these initial projects and, should other projects arise, coordination of those projects addressing the NE Corridor enterprise business of continuity efforts. The parties also concluded that an Ad Hoc Governance Board could guide provision of a unified strategy and coordination for future related projects.

Goal Statement

In support of this opportunity, NE Corridor rail carriers agree in principle to: identify critical information exchange requirements, develop communication pathways, share best practices and examine direct coordination of response activities among Corridor Rail line users relative to continuity of operations during events with the potential for major interruptions.