Feds move forward with $4B Baltimore Amtrak tunnel replacement

Dive Brief:

The Federal Rail Administration (FRA) has announced its plans to replace the aging 1.4-mile Amtrak Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel at a cost of $4 billion, according to The Baltimore Sun.
The FRA identified three route options in its final environmental impact statement, but its preferred choice would see the new tunnel’s path be carved out underneath residential neighborhoods, necessitating the "displacement" of 22 homes.
Officials said the new tunnel is necessary to ease rail congestion and allow trains to operate at higher speeds, but residents who live above the proposed path said they’re concerned about the noise and vibration from operations, as well as about whether dangerous freight will be passing underneath.

Dive Insight:

Advocacy group Residents Against the Tunnels said it plans to ask the FRA for one month beyond its current December comment deadline to review the tunnel plans. The agency will decide in the spring of 2017 whether to go ahead with the replacement. While Amtrak owns the 143-year-old tunnel, the Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC) system and the Norfolk Southern Railway both use it as well. The tunnel is currently located between West Baltimore’s MARC Station and Penn Station, a stretch that helps make up Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

In August, Amtrak officials announced that they had started to consider development and design partners for the overhaul of Baltimore's Penn Station as well. Officials said their preference was for a redevelopment team that could provide the best "vision" for the station, including "design, community involvement and financing." Last month, the rail company said it had selected three finalists who were to come up with a "master plan" for the non-rail areas of the station as well as the adjacent property. Amtrak said it would select a winner by the summer of 2017.

According to Amtrak, its Northeast Corridor — Washington-Boston — has about 2,200 trains traveling some part of the route every day and, in 2015 logged 17.6 million passenger trips. Because it is such a vital transportation route, the U.S. Department of Transportation loaned Amtrak $2.45 billion this summer for upgrades, marking the largest loan the agency has ever made. Despite the influx of cash, the rail company said it still is short $7 billion for maintenance.

Amtrak is also a beneficiary of the Gateway Program, a separate $24 billion plan to upgrade rail service along the Northeast Corridor. In October, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that it had contributed $300 million to the initiative and would replace an aging rail bridge that crosses the Hackensack River.