News & Reviews News Wire Amtrak chooses joint AECOM/Jacobs venture to oversee Frederick Douglass Tunnel project

Amtrak chooses joint AECOM/Jacobs venture to oversee Frederick Douglass Tunnel project

By Trains Staff | April 3, 2024

Advance becomes first to receive ‘delivery partner’ contract from passenger operator

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Map showing route of the current B&P Tunnel and the planned route of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel which will replace it.
The planned route of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel (in green), which will replace the 150-year-old B&P Tunnel. Amtrak

BALTIMORE — Amtrak has selected Advance, a joint venture by infrastructure firms AECOM and Jacobs, to manage oversight of design, construction, contract management, administrative support, and other aspects of the $6 billion Frederick Douglass Tunnel project.

The project includes replacement of the nearly 150-year old, 1.4-mile B&P tunnel, a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor, as well as other work on a 10-mile segment of the corridor.

Advance is receiving the first “delivery partner” contract awarded by Amtrak; the passenger operator describes this as one in which the private company shares in Amtrak’s risk to deliver the program and achieve overall outcomes.

“We’re proud to award this important Delivery Partner contract that will help continue the positive momentum for the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program,” Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president of capital delivery, said in a press release.

The announcement today (Wednesday, April 3) follows the February selection of the Kiewit/J.F. Shea Joint Venture as builder for the tunnels’ two bores [see “Amtrak selects builder …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 6, 2024]. Demolition in advance of the project has begun and major construction is scheduled to begin later this year, including utility relocations and work on the first of five bridges.

8 thoughts on “Amtrak chooses joint AECOM/Jacobs venture to oversee Frederick Douglass Tunnel project

  1. Jeez, what do you all have against AECOM? It’s an honorable company that has completed many projects sucessfully. Amtrak picked well and the work needs to be done. I bet that it will be completed sucessfully, but I’m not a Debbie Downer.

  2. Isn’t this already years behind now. To say they will finish on time is laughable.
    Charles is spot on the in the “real world” Never a need to bash someone’s opinion. This is a comment section isn’t it. Everyone should at least be polite to one another. Oh ya, that is something that has been lost in the US.

  3. Ditto copy Mr.Fiedman we also got your message about Charles umpteenth times and it falls on flat ears.

  4. If Biden is re-elected (he will be) there will be a civil rights investigation. Meaning three billion dollars of payoffs to politically favored neighborhood groups

    1. Prove it Charles, oh you can’t , so it’s just another day in curmudgeon land. With that comment we’ll take it you are against Democracy with your “If” and most likely will cheer when the railroads and other transportation collapse if your orange messiah gets in again. So old Charles, or should we say Nancy.

    1. Are you this much of a negative Nancy in the rest of your life?

      Please stop. This gets OLD. It’s all people who comment here do.

    2. Don’t be silly. Of COURSE it’s going to be late and over budget. At some point in the excavation they’ll unearth a skeleton of the Wasteasaurous Rex which will bring everything to a screeching halt for a decade.

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