Take a Look: Amtrak’s B&P Tunnel Replacement Program
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor, Railway Age
Frederick Douglass Tunnel with Electrified Trains (Amtrak image)
Amtrak, which has begun early construction activities as part of its $6 billion B&P Tunnel Replacement Program, on May 5 released a series of project renderings.
The first project kicked off in March 2023 and includes replacing aging wooden ties with new concrete ties, installing new rail and completing track drainage improvements. These upgrades, Amtrak says, will enable high‐speed operations on all four tracks along this track segment.
At nearly 150 years old, the B&P Tunnel is Amtrak’s oldest tunnel on the Northeast Corridor (NEC), connecting Baltimore to Washington, D.C. The program, Amtrak says, will eventually be advanced by the railroad and its partners by “utilizing federal funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).” The program, Amtrak adds, is comprised of several investment projects to construct new bridges, rail systems and track, an ADA-accessible West Baltimore MARC station and the new Frederick Douglass Tunnel, which will include two new high-capacity tubes for electrified passenger trains.
Renderings of the project, which Amtrak says are “subject to change as design develops,” are available below.
