Biden announces $16.4B in new funding for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor

The Biden administration will announce a $16.4 billion investment for rail projects along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor on Monday as part of the overall investments in infrastructure by President Biden, a longtime Amtrak user.

The funding will go to 25 passenger rail projects and will come from the bipartisan infrastructure law’s overall $66 billion investment in rail. The projects are an effort to move “the United States closer to his vision for world-class passenger rail,” an official said.

Biden will travel to Wilmington, Del., to make the announcement, officials said. As a senator, the president took the Amtrak for decades while commuting to Washington, D.C.

The projects include rebuilding 100-year-old tunnels and bridges, upgrading tracks, power systems, signals and stations, and advancing future projects that aim to improve travel times by increasing operating speeds and reducing delays.

The administration is also aiming to “ensure that train service is more convenient and climate-friendly than either driving or flying,” officials said. Officials noted the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Boston to D.C., supports 800,000 trips per day and is the most heavily traveled rail corridor in the U.S.

The $16.4 billion will be dispersed through nearly $9 billion in fiscal 2022 and 2023 funds and $7.4 billion in future commitments.

The Frederick Douglass Tunnel in Maryland will receive $4.7 billion to replace the tunnel, which officials said will increase the speed of the train from 30 mph to 110 mph. The Gateway Hudson River Tunnel in New York and New Jersey will receive $3.8 billion to replace the tunnel that was damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.