PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Twenty years after Amtrak’s first Downeaster set off into darkness and uncertainty on a cold December morning, there’s now light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to passenger rail expansion projects thanks to the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill.
Rail service is getting its biggest boost since Amtrak’s creation — including the lion’s share of up to $100 billion over the next five years. The money will fund major projects aimed at improving service in the Northeast corridor that have been in the works for years, before the coronavirus pandemic led millions of American commuters to began working from home.
“We need to make hay while the sun shines because we’ve never gotten that much money as an industry,” said Sean Jeans-Gail, vice president of the Rail Passengers Association, a rail advocacy organization in Washington, D.C.
Potential projects include a new Hudson River tunnel between New York and New Jersey, a new bridge between Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and a replacement for the Baltimore & Potomac tunnel. Outside of the Northeast, rail advocates look forward to the restoration of service connecting New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, which was knocked offline by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
