- It is the biggest bottleneck between Washington
and New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor.
The problem starts inside there.
- We have small portions of the walls and ceiling
where we have masonry and bricks occasionally falling.
The corridor was developed a long time ago,
before electricity or we had electric locomotives.
These tunnels were built when there were steam engines.
- But today, it's electricity from overhead wiring
that's humming in the air,
putting a buzz into our microphone.
That electricity -- power to a parade of trains
traveling Amtrak's Northeast Corridor,
the busiest passenger rail line in America, and it's crumbling.
- Because of the excessive amount of water
that leaks into the tunnel, it causes the railroad tracks
and the ties here to fail prematurely.
- We've come to West Baltimore to look at the B&P Tunnel,
a 30 mile an hour speed bump
on what should be a super highway for trains.
The tunnel opened in 1873, eight years after the Civil War.
If there are symbols of America's infrastructure woes
or fixtures far beyond their useful life,
the Northeast Corridor could be exhibit "A".
The way to New York City
is through these tunnels underneath the Hudson.
They also need replacing -- at more than $11 billion.
The projects are certainly on the tips of tongues these days.
- The rebuilding and replacement
of the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel.
- We're talking about critical jobs
like the Hudson River Tunnel, the Baltimore, Potomac Tunnels,
and the Susquehanna River Bridge.
- The curves of the B&P Tunnel restrict the speed.
Its size limits the number of trains
from three or four tracks to two.
Amtrak has plans for a new tunnel,
a more graceful curve north of the B&P,
still going underneath a part of the city
that looks like this above ground.
Trains will go faster, 100 miles per hour.
All at a cost if $4 billion.
- When we secure the funding, it'll take approximately
10 to 12 years to make the new tunnels operational.
- Amtrak may have its best ally yet in President Joe Biden.
Amtrak Joe, a nickname for all the years
he rode between Washington and Wilmington.
The station there in Delaware carries his name.
- I've been riding Amtrak for almost as long
as there's been an Amtrak.
And I've come to see that Amtrak
doesn't just carry us from one place to another.
It opens up enormous possibilities.
- Amtrak is now 50 years old,
a creation of the federal government,
taking over passenger trains after freight railroads
wanted out of that declining business.
It's been rough ride, especially for those long distance trains
that cover big parts of the country, or try to.
- It is a, what I would call, a very spindly network.
- Bob Johnston is a correspondent
at Trains magazine, where he covers Amtrak.
- One of the things that Amtrak needs to do better
is they need to tell people where the trains go,
when they leave, and how they can use them.
- Outside of the Northeast Corridor
and some track in Michigan, Amtrak owns none of its network.
It fights for track space with freight trains.
But in a place like Glasgow, Montana,
and other small towns across the country,
it is essential transportation.
Amtrak has no dedicated source of funding,
which means a backlog of big ticket projects
like tunnels and bridges and aging passenger cars
still rolling from the 1970s.
- At least the highways have had annual,
reliable, regular funding.
Amtrak has not had that.
Amtrak has had to go for appropriations every year.
- Amtrak did snag a couple billion
to replace its fast train, the Acela.
All new equipment is coming,
but don't expect a big burst of speed,
given conditions of the Northeast Corridor,
a corridor with bridges like the one over the Susquehanna River.
It's also on Amtrak's replacement list,
at 115 years old.