More than 150-years old, the B&P Tunnel dates from the Civil War era. It is also the largest bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) between Washington, D.C. and New Jersey.

The Baltimore & Potomac (B&P) Tunnel is the oldest Amtrak tunnel and a single point of failure for the 14 million MARC and Amtrak customers who rely on it. This 1.4-mile tunnel, connecting Baltimore’s Penn Station to Washington D.C. and Virginia, suffers from a variety of age-related issues such as excessive water infiltration, a deteriorating structure, and a sinking floor. The existing tunnel cannot be updated with modern fire and life safety systems and excessive costly maintenance is required. The tunnel is at capacity, and its tight curvature requires trains to reduce speeds to 30 mph. These issues create chronic delays — more than 10% of weekday trains are delayed, and delays occur on 99% of weekdays. Without replacement, these issues will persist and the risk to travel along America’s busiest passenger rail corridor will continue to grow.

Amtrak’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program will resolve these challenges, unlocking this major NEC bottleneck, enhancing connectivity in the Baltimore-Washington region, and creating tens of thousands of jobs throughout construction.

Early construction activities are now underway for a series of investments that will upgrade and modernize this 10-mile section of the NEC, including a new, modern tunnel to replace the B&P Tunnel. The new 2-mile Frederick Douglass Tunnel will serve electrified passenger trains and support travel speeds up to 100 mph, more than three times faster than today.