Governor Elect Tom Wolf

Governor elect Tom Wolf in his stump speech running up to election during the last week of the campaign made a general point of Pennsylvania remaining in a keystone position for transportation.
A great deal of commerce originates, terminates or crosses the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The anticipated growth of the American economy by 2035 will see numerous chokepoints on the railroad system and the highway system that do not exist now.

The 1854 civil engineering of the Pittsburgh to Harrisburg Keystone Corridor West is in and by itself a chokepoint.

The key to railroad operation and design is to minimize the grades the railroad has. In 1906 a route was survey for the proposed New York Chicago and Pittsburgh railroad across the length of Pennsylvania. The line as located would not have exceeded 0.04 of 1 per cent. It had great gradients but its curvature would have affected the potential speed. The point is that a route with easy grades across Pennsylvania's Alleghenies is possible.

Could a p3 public private private partnership examine the 1906 proposed location for gradient and in turn identify a low gradient route across the center of Pennsylvania for a true high speed railroad right of way for 230 mph operations? Given that it is possible, then why can't a new high speed railroad  be built connecting New York to Chicago that is controlled by Pennsylvania through a p3?

The proposed high speed railroad right of way would include in its proximity parallel higher speed track that would accommodate freight operations and higher speed passnger operations. It would supplant the 1854 civil engineering of the Pittsburgh to Harrisburg line. The higher speed track could be available for operation of high speed equipment at slower speeds when maintenance is being done on the high speed line. The new line would eliminate the 1854 chokepoint.

The proposed new railroad would be the keystone in a new transportation for the country east of the Mississippi River.