Amtrak's 60 Hz traction power system

Amtrak’s 60 Hz traction power system operates along the Northeast Corridor between New Haven, Connecticut,[note 1] and Boston, Massachusetts.

Revenue from this service was expected to play a critical role in helping Amtrak achieve operating self-sufficiency by 2003.

In addition to the higher operating speeds possible with electrified service, Amtrak also saves the time it spent on switching locomotives.

By the time the project was complete, Amtrak was expected to have spent over $600 million to electrify the line between New Haven and Boston.

Amtrak's contractor faced a difficult working environment in the Boston Terminal Area because of the extensive work being undertaken for the Central Artery project, which involved over 500 employees in the South Boston Terminal area alone and entailed on-site storage of a large amount of heavy construction equipment and supplies.

Another factor complicating electrification work in the Boston Terminal Area is the large volume of rail traffic.

The bridges span busy waterways shared by pleasure craft, commercial carriers, and military traffic.

The autotransformer center tap is connected to the grounded running rails that return the current from the locomotives.

The filter banks suppress the high frequency (that is anything above 60 Hz) harmonics on the catenary lines generated by locomotives' solid-state traction motor inverters.

Each contains a single autotransformer (with the exception of Roxbury, which has two), automatic circuit breakers, motor-operated air switches, and a control shed.

[7] Each paralleling station bus is connected to both north and south track catenary and feeder lines via automatic circuit breakers.