Pres. Joe Biden announced recently that the federal government will provide $16 billion to Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which will include 25 passenger rail projects.
The Northeast Corridor is a system that connects cities such as Washington, New York City (NYC) and Boston. Amtrak is the National Railroad Passenger Corporation; it operates intercity passenger rail services in 46 states and the District of Columbia, in addition to serving as a contractor in various capacities for several commuter rail agencies.
The funds “will upgrade aging infrastructure on the nation’s most heavily traveled rail corridor to increase train speeds, reduce passenger delays and create good-paying union jobs,” a White House official said in a statement.
The money is part of the $1 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was signed into law nearly two years ago and included $66 billion for investments in rail systems.
“I’ve been talking about this a long time, I know. But finally, finally we’re getting it done,” Biden said at an event held at a maintenance warehouse for Amtrak trains in Bear, Del. where he announced the new funding.
Biden is a long-time passenger of Amtrak. During his 36 years as a U.S. senator, he rode from Wilmington, Del. to Washington daily.
“How can you be a leading country in the world and have a second-rate infrastructure?” he said. “It’s not possible.”
12 of the 25 projects will be carried out by Amtrak such as the Susquehanna River Rail Bridge project in Maryland, the East River tunnel project in New York and replacing the Connecticut River Bridge between Old Lyme and Old Saybrook.
The tunnel that runs under residential Baltimore, also known as the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, is the slowest section of the mainline track between Washington and New York City. About $4.7 billion will go toward replacing the tunnel, which will allow speeds to increase from the current speed 30 miles per hour to 110 miles per hour.
“These grants will help advance Amtrak’s plans to modernize the Northeast Corridor and unlock major bottlenecks on the busiest passenger rail corridor in America,” Stephen Gardner, Amtrak’s chief executive said in a statement.
The 13 other projects will be carried out by Amtrak partners and will focus on the Gateway project in New York and New Jersey. The Gateway Hudson River tunnel project began during the Obama administration and saw extensive delays during the Trump administration. The tunnel connects New York to New Jersey by underwater train tunnels and is about a century old. The span suffered damage after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“This historic investment demonstrates President Biden’s commitment to updating our nation’s aging infrastructure and prioritizing the public transportation so many Americans rely upon,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.
“The funding for the Gateway Program will support efforts my administration has been working toward for years alongside our partners to update bridges and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor that serve 260 million passenger trips per year,” Murphy said.
According to a White House official fact sheet, this is the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak and the projects will create around 100,000 union jobs. At the event, Biden said “if this line were to shut down for just one day, it would cost our American economy $100 million a day.”
There are around 800,000 trips daily along the Northeast Corridor. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg told reporters, “Americans need and deserve world-class rail, which is the president’s vision. But for decades now, we have underinvested as a country in passenger rail in the United States.”
After years of no improvements in U.S. infrastructure, “this is the U.S.A., for God’s sake,” Biden said. “We’re better than that and now we’re proving it.”