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1/31/2023
President Joe Biden today announced the award of $1.2 billion in grants from the new National Infrastructure Project Assistance Program (Mega) for nine projects across the country, including one to fund preparations for the Hudson Tunnel and Gateway projects.
Of the nine grants, one for $292 million has been awarded for the project known as the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing Section 3 in New York City. The grant will help pay for the final section of concrete casing intended to preserve future right-of-way for the construction of rail tubes that would be built under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey. The project also will lay the groundwork for the much-anticipated Gateway Project, which calls for major rail infrastructure improvements along the Northeast Corridor (NEC).
When completed, the Hudson Tunnel project will improve commute times and Amtrak reliability on the NEC, and support the NEC regional economy, Biden administration officials said in a press release.
Biden is in New York City today to highlight the need for the Hudson Tunnel's replacement and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) legislation he signed in November 2021 to help fund the project.
Yesterday, Biden visited Baltimore to announce more than $4 billion in federal IIJA money to help fund the replacement of the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac (B&P) Tunnel, which currently is Amtrak's biggest chokepoint between Washington, D.C., and New Jersey.
Also yesterday, Amtrak announced its "Project Kickoff" agreement with the state of Maryland for the first phase of the B&P replacement. Maryland state officials intend to commit $450 million in funding to support that project. Those dollars, combined with Amtrak's commitment of $750 million, put the project one step closer to full funding under the Federal Railroad Administration's Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program.
"Replacing this Civil War-era B&P tunnel will nearly triple train capacity on this critical section of the Northeast Corridor for the 9 million annual Amtrak and MARC customers who rely on this vital connection," said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner in a press release.
The B&P Tunnel replacement will be called the Frederick Douglass Tunnel.
In addition to the project kickoff agreement with Maryland, a new project labor agreement (PLA) has been signed between Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council, which is a local affiliate of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), to cover the replacement of the Warwick Bridge that may serve as a model for other Amtrak projects.
The PLA is the first agreement under a 2021 memorandum of understanding between Amtrak and NABTU covering Amtrak’s major civil engineering projects, including the remaining phases of the B&P Tunnel replacement program.
The PLA is a collective bargaining agreement that will govern terms and conditions of employment for workers constructing the bridge replacement, Amtrak officials said.