Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, stretching from Washington, DC to Boston, is about to get some serious upgrades, funded by $16.4 billion in federal infrastructure money from the 2021 infrastructure bill.
The work, which will affect the U.S.’s busiest rail corridor, includes funding for projects that will replace two major bottleneck tunnels along the route as well as a number of century-or-more old bridges and rights-of-way.
$4.7 billion is set aside for a new Baltimore tunnel, replacing an existing one that forces trains to move through the city at 30 mph, the slowest section of the whole line. As well, there’s $3.8 billion to add to state and local funds to replace the 113-year-old tunnel that carries Amtrak and commuter trains under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.
In all, the funds go toward 25 passenger rail projects along the corridor, some of which will allow Amtrak’s newest trains to reach their potential top speeds of 125 to 160 mph along parts of the route; at present only a small section of the route can handle that.
In addition to the Northeast Corridor work, there’s another $50 billion in the infrastructure bill for other rail projects around the country.
