WASHINGTON — The federal government will provide $1.5 million in funding for 19 projects along the Northeast Corridor, the Federal Railroad Administration announced today (Friday, Nov. 15).
Leading the list of projects to be funded under the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail is almost $400 million for a project to replace and upgrade the catenary system on 18 miles of Amtrak’s Keystone Line between Philadelphia and Paoli. Four other projects will receive more than $100 million.
FRA administrator Amit Bose said in a press release that the agency has now announced grants “for all major backlog projects in our NEC Project Inventory.” The funding announced today follows some $16.4 billion awarded last year [see “President Biden announces $16.4 billion in funding …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 6, 2023].
Awards announced today include:
— $397.3 million for design and construction of a new and upgraded catenary power system on 18 miles of Amtrak’s Keystone line between the Zoo substation in Philadelphia and the Paoli substation in Paoli, Pa. Much of the existing catenary infrastructure dates to the 1910s.
— $187.5 million for final design and pre-construction support services, such as the hiring of project management, for replacement of the 115-year-old Sawtooth Bridges in Kearny, N.J.
— $172 million for a variety of infrastructure improvements in Connecticut, including replacement of 88 catenary structures; four new crossovers; and replacement of the Longbrook Avenue Roadway bridge on a three-mile segment of the New Haven line between Bridgeport and Stratford, Conn.
— $122.7 million for final design and construction at Baltimore Penn Station, including interior renovations and restoration of the existing headhouse building and construction of a new entrance and headhouse along Lanvale Street.
— $102 million for double tracking in three segments totaling 6.2 miles on the New Haven, Conn.-Springfield, Mass., line served by Amtrak and CTrail. The work will take place in Enfield, Conn.; between Windsor and Windsor Locks, Conn.; and between Hartford and West Hartford, Conn.
— $96.7 million for replacement of approximately 100 miles of catenary wire between Baltimore and New Carrollton, Md., replacing existing catenary wire that is more than 80 years old.
— $80.3 million for design and relocation of a substation in Kearny, N.J., replacing an existing substation subject to frequent flooding that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
— $72.5 million for development activities preceding renovations to Penn Station in New York City. This will include environment review and other project development work.
— $71.9 million for development activities preceding expansion of track and platform capacity at New York Penn Station, including environmental review and other project work.
— $58.8 million for near-term improvements at Washington Union Station, including final design of replacement of Amtrak Police Department and crew base facilities; design and construction of a new digital technology communications room, and relocation and replacement of an electrical substation.
— $24 million for planning in support of an expansion of Washington Union Station, including design, utility, and geotechnical work.
— $18.6 million for modification and upgrades to the signal system in a 26-mile stretch between New Brunswick and Elizabeth, N.J.
— $17.8 million for a new in-cab signal system to replace wayside signaling between South Bowie, Md., and Washington, D.C.
— $13.4 million for catenary replacement and upgrading in a 23-mile stretch between New Brunswick and Newark, N.J.
— $8 million for planning to precede replacement of the 120-year-old Connecticut River bridge in Windsor Locks, Conn., on the New Haven-Springfield.
— $7.4 million for development and final design of a new Potts Interlocking in Exton, Pa., on the Keystone Line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg.
— $6.4 million for a planning study to explore options for replacing the 120-year-old movable Cos Cob Bridge across the Mianus River in Greenwich, Conn.
— $3.2 million for a planning study to address increasing capacity and reducing interference between operators on the segment of the NEC shared by Amtrak and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority trains between Trenton, N.J., and Newark, Del.
— $2.6 million for planning related to construction of a new Hartford, Conn., station and double tracking of 2.1 miles of the New Haven-Springfield corridor in Hartford.
— Updated at 11:30 a.m. to correct to “billion” in headline.
it’s $1.5 BILLION not million
Fixed.Thanks.
I am leery of sizeable “projects” that get nothing built but are only “planning.”
Is that Million with a “B”?
Apparently the FRA does not have a human proofreader reviewing its announcements.
As we used to say while playing Monopoly, “Prices have gone up!” If it takes $8 million to plan a bridge, how much does it cost to build it?
Defining NEC as including the Harrisburg and Springfield extensions, it looks as if the annual tax-funded capital expenditures of NEC from now into the foreseeable future will far exceed Amtrak’s tax-funded annual operating subsidy nationwide.
I’m not opposed to these expenditures. Just this: let’s not kid ourselves about how sizable they are. The true subsidy for Amtrak (or the commuter railroads that use NEC) must be seen as much greater than the operating subsidy.