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 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 9 million MARC and Amtrak customers who rely on it. The 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 the tunnel’s 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 the roughly $6 billion replacement, these issues will persist, and the risk to Northeast Corridor operations will grow. A tunnel replacement program has already completed its environmental (NEPA) review, and preliminary work began in 2023. Pre-award authority has been given by the Federal Railroad Administration for major construction contracts to be awarded. Funding will be a combination of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding and Maryland and internal program revenue.