Biden Announces ‘Historic Investment’ in Rail
$16.4 Billion to Help Pay for New Bridges, Tunnels along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money,” Everett Dirksen, the Senate Minority Leader in the 1960s, once said.
On Monday President Joe Biden traveled to an Amtrak maintenance facility in his home state of Delaware to announce some “real money” - $16.4 billion – to help fund 25 projects along the Northeast Corridor. He called it “the largest investment in rail since the creation of Amtrak.” The funds are part of the $66 billion earmarked for Amtrak in the trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure law enacted in 2021, with at least $12 billion earmarked for the national system.
The announcement overshadowed another transportation grant publicized over the weekend: $3.4 billion from the Federal Transit Administration – the agency’s largest ever – to extend New York’s Second Avenue Subway north from 96th Street to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue.
“We’re announcing historic investment in America’s railroads,” Biden said Monday afternoon at an Amtrak maintenance facility in Bear, Delaware. “Finally we’re getting it done, more than $16 billion, here in the Northeast Corridor.”
The announced funds are desperately needed not just to repair or replace antiquated and failing infrastructure but also to make Amtrak’s service along its busiest route faster and more reliable.
No president “gets” Amtrak and passenger rail, in general, more than Biden. Partly that is because it served as a lifeline for his political career after a car accident claimed the lives of his first wife and daughter. Every day he rode Amtrak between Washington and Wilmington so he could be home for his young sons, Beau and Hunter. His support for the railroad earned him the nickname “Amtrak Joe.” He commuted by train for 36 years until he became President Obama’s vice president in 2009.
The announced funds are desperately needed not just to repair or replace antiquated and failing infrastructure but also to make Amtrak’s service along its busiest route faster and more reliable. “The grants will help the company “modernize” the Northeast Corridor and “unlock major bottlenecks on the busiest passenger rail corridor in America,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner.
The NEC handles 2,200 trains carrying 800,000 riders on a typical weekday, mostly commuter runs that share the tracks with Amtrak. It has a level of indispensability unmatched on this continent.
More than one quarter of the funds announced by the president - $4.7 billion – are designated for the Frederick Douglas Tunnel Program. This project will build a new route under West Baltimore to replace the existing tunnels, which are more than 150 years old and a major bottleneck that delays trains on 99 percent of days. When the new tunnels open train speeds will increase from 30 mph to 110 mph.
Two other big tunnel projects received funding. The Gateway tunnels program was awarded $3.79 billion. A groundbreaking was held last Friday in New York to celebrate the start of construction.
The funds will go toward building two new tubes under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Penn Station New York. When the tunnels are completed, Amtrak will take the existing North River Tunnels out of service to repair deterioration caused by saltwater erosion after Superstorm Sandy in 2012. In addition, $1.26 billion was allocated for rehabilitation of the heavily trafficked East River Tunnels, which are used by the Long Island Rail Road as well as NJ Transit and Amtrak.
The Susquehanna River Bridge Project received a $2.08 billion award, the largest for bridge projects funded in this round. The project would replace the existing 110-year old, two track bridge over the river at Perryville, MD, with two parallel bridges: one rated for 150 mph top speed, the other for 90 mph.
Grants were also awarded for replacement of bridges over the Connecticut River ($826.6 million), Pelham Bay ($58.3 million), Gunpowder River ($30 million), Bush River ($18.8 million), Walk River ($465 million), Housatonic River ($245.9 million), and Saugatuck River ($23.2 million).
In addition, $300.2 million was granted for rehabilitation of the Dock Bridge over the Passaic River just east of Newark Penn Station and $133.3 million for replacement of the Sawtooth Bridges over NJ Transit’s Morris & Essex (former Lackawanna main) line.
Other grants will support:
· MTA’s Penn Station Access, $1.64 billion
· NJ Transit Delco lead, $180.9 million
· Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) New Haven Line Power Improvement Program, $122.8 million
· CTDOT Devon Bridge interim repairs, $119.3 million
· CTDOT Hartford Line double track (phase 3B), $104.9 million
· CTDOT New Haven Line track improvement and mobility enhancement part 1 and 3, $71.6 million
· NJ Transit Newark Penn Station vertical circulation improvements, $59.2 million
· SEPTA reconstruction of Cornwells Heights station, $30.5 million
· CTDOT New Haven Line network infrastructure upgrade project, $15.4 million
“Taken together, these investments will upgrade tunnels, bridges, tracks, power systems, signals, stations and more, allowing for increased speeds, reduced travel time, and a more reliable experience for riders,” the Federal Railroad Administration wrote in a news release. “This means modernizing and strengthening a mode of transportation that produces fewer emissions compared to driving or flying.”
“There are train stations that haven’t seen a major upgrade for generations, tracks are in constant need of repair,” President Biden said. “This outdated infrastructure leads to over 4,000 hours of delays each year on Amtrak.”
“You don’t need to tell me how badly this corridor needs upgrades, I’ve lived it,” he added. “I know what it feels like to be stuck on the tracks when you’re trying to get home to see your family or trying to get out to vote because on a track, something went wrong.”
The President used his appearance in Delaware to contrast his policies with House Republicans who want to slash funding for Amtrak. “We’re trying to make train travel easier, faster, safer, more reliable. They’re trying to make it slower, harder and less safe,” he said. (Republicans pulled the proposal off the table in response to pressure from members of the New York delegation.)
Fortunately, more than half the funds for the projects announced by Biden - $9 billion – were included in the budgets for FY 2022 and FY 2023. The remainder are slated to be appropriated in future budgets. Since these projects will be well underway it will be harder for a future administration to kill or delay them, e.g. if Donald Trump is returned to the White House in 2024 and Republicans control of both houses of Congress.
In 1969 the United States became the second country in the world, after Japan, to operate high-speed trains when Penn Central Transportation launched the Metroliner between New York and Washington. Sadly, the fastest Amtrak Acela times between those cities today are longer than PC’s best. In other words, after 54 years our best trains are no faster than in 1969.
The projects announced by the President will not transform the Northeast Corridor into a high-speed super railroad comparable to the RENFE route I rode between Barcelona and Madrid two weeks ago. There are too many obstacles, and the price tag is too high, for that to happen – at least in my lifetime.
However, they will eliminate many of the choke points and vulnerabilities that affect Amtrak’s performance. This will improve reliability and enable incremental reductions in travel times. To paraphrase Senator Dirksen, a new tunnel here, a new bridge there and pretty soon you’re talking real improvements.