On Friday, January 15, 2016 at 2:26:59 PM UTC-5, Stephen Sprunk wrote:   
      
   > Amtrak (and its predecessors) have been doing up to 135mph on 11kV 25Hz   
   > lines for around a century; the main reason they couldn't go faster was   
   > the variable-tension catenary.  That's roughly twice as much current as   
   > 200mph on 2x25kV lines in France and China, so I'm not sure current is   
   > really a limiting factor.   
      
   I wouldn't say a "century", since the electrification dates to the 1930s.   
   Plus, I don't think they routinely exceeded 100 mph until the Metroliner   
   MU sets arrived in 1969.  I don't believe the GG-1's routinely exceeded   
   100 mph and I strongly doubt the P5's did.   
      
   Sadly, a comparison of schedules from the early 1980s and now shows   
   longer running times for both NJT and Amtrak trains.   
      
   As to current load, the North Shore's Electroliners, using 600 V trolley   
   poles, ran very fast, as did the Cinncinatti & Lake Erie.  (When   
   the Electroliners ran on SEPTA's P&W, the accelerating current draw   
   was so much that the interior lights would go dim and SEPTA had   
   trouble with the substations.  They also had a/c, which is a power   
   draw in itself.)   
      
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