Frederick Douglass Tunnel to Supplement the 1873 B&P Tunnel in Baltimore, MD

(South Portal Satellite; North Portal Satellite)

B&P = Baltimore and Potomac

Record of Decision

The original plan was to bore four tubes. But the current plan is to bore just two tubes for the passenger trains and leave the freight trains in the old tunnel. This will eliminate diesel train fumes from the ventilation facility of the new tunnels and save more than $1b. The two tubes are supposed to cost "only" $4b. It also cut two years off the construction time so that it will take "only" 10 years. The design is supposed to accommodate adding two tubes for freight trains. (If they can bore two tubes for $1b in two years then what are they doing with the extra $3b and 8 years? It sounds like an additional expense is that the MARC commuter trains will be electrified.)

Amtrak via Railway Age via Progressive Railroading

Some of the $3b includes rebuilding a 4 mile route and building a new MARC station. Also, some track is being moved to flatten some curves so I some properties need to be bought.

Amtrak and www.bptunnel.com
"The B&P Tunnel, located in Baltimore, dates from the Civil War era. At nearly 150 years old, it is the oldest tunnel Amtrak inherited and a single point of failure for MARC’s busiest line (the Penn Line) and the Northeast Corridor."  [RailwayAge's caption]
The speed limit will increase from 30 mph to 100 mph. The new tunnels will have emergency egress pathways and ventilation systems.
In addition to the old tunnel falling apart, "there are no fire and life safety systems to keep passengers safe in the event of emergencies." [ProgressiveRailroading]

Amtrak-facts
"The age of the structure, combined with excessive amounts of water leaking into the tunnel walls and flowing underneath the track floor, has led to falling bricks and concrete, small portions of the wall collapsing and settlement (sinking) in the track floor."

Is code 1.1, GUIDEWAY AND TRACK ELEMENTS, the digging of the tubes? Note this estimate was made back when they were planning on doing 4 tubes. It seems to me that category 8 is a fudge factor of a billion dollars.

Record of Decision, pp 32,33

I skimmed the four Appendixes of the Record of Decision, but I could not find any information on "new bridges" that one article listed as part of the project.

June 2022: Marty Bernard posted
https://www.rtands.com/track-construction/amtrak-launches-procurement-phase-for-bp-tunnel-replacement-program/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=33061
Amtrak launches procurement phase for B&P Tunnel Replacement Program
Erich Houchens: It's about time they did something about the B&P tunnel. I began my railroad career working in the towers of Amtrak's Baltimore division. One of the towers I worked at was B&P Jct which controlled signals and switches at either end of the tunnel. Back in the 70's the track in the tunnel was so bad that it was referred to as "Block'em & Plug'em" tunnel. Amtrak did put a concrete floor in the tunnel in the early 80's which stopped the derailments. Current plans are to take it out of service once the new tunnel opens and rebuild it with a single track.
William Russ: Baltimore's 2nd tunnel might be a better description as the B&P tunnel will be retained for use by MARC trains.

Mar 10, 2023:

safe_image for Amtrak Kicking Off $6B B&P Tunnel Replacement Program
"Two separate tubes with up to four tracks total in the new tunnel would enable speeds up to 110 mph."
Only passenger trains will use the new Frederick Douglass Tunnel. Freight trains will continue to use the old B&P tunnel.

Feb 27, 2024:

safe_image for Initial Demo Begins for Amtrak’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program
Marty Bernard shared