Amtrak awarded nearly $10b for 12 Northeast Corridor projects

Amtrak will receive nearly $10 billion in federal funds for 12 major projects along the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C., the rail company said.

The Federal Railroad Administration funding from the Biden administration is set to be used to “modernize critical infrastructure, improve stations and support future ridership growth” on the corridor, Amtrak said in a statement released Monday.

“This historic funding comes at a critical time as [Northeast Corridor] ridership continues to rise, consistently exceeding prepandemic levels since early summer as Amtrak delivers a new era of passenger rail,” the statement said.

The grants will support 12 projects through the FederalState Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program, Amtrak said. The projects include building a new Connecticut River Bridge, upgrading and rehabilitating the East River Tunnel in New York, and a capacity planning study for the area from New Haven to Providence, according to the statement.

“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,” Amtrak chief executive Stephen Gardner said in the statement.

The funding comes as part of a more than $16 million package to fund more than 25 projects, President Biden said in a post on social media.

“That’s the largest investment in rail since the creation of Amtrak,” he said.

The other 13 projects along the Northeast Corridor are led by Amtrak’s partners, the agency said. Those projects include a power line improvement program for the New Haven Line through the Connecticut Department of Transportation, the Hudson Tunnel Project, and Penn Station Access — an extension of Metro-North’s New Haven Line to go to Pennsylvania Station in New York City.

“Under President Biden, we are finally delivering the generational investments in passenger rail that Americans have wanted for years, including modernizing the busiest rail corridor in the country,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the statement. “These investments will make our busiest passenger railroad safer, faster, and more reliable, which means fewer delays and shorter commutes for the 800,000 passengers who rely on the Northeast Corridor every day.”

Monica Tibbits-Nutt, acting secretary of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, said the “record-setting investment in Northeast Corridor infrastructure ... will benefit intercity passenger and commuter rail services between Boston and Washington.”

“The NEC transportation network is a vital component of the region and nation’s economy, and these projects will advance our collective goals around climate, economic growth, and mobility,” TibbitsNutt said in the statement.

Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the “massive, history-making” funding “means faster train trips and more good-paying construction jobs for Connecticut.”

“It will empower a transportation transformation, bringing our rail system into the 21st century,” he said in the statement. “Federal investment in our crumbling infrastructure is long overdue, and I’m thrilled that our delegation has fought hard and successfully for dollars Amtrak needs and deserves.”