Studies Explore Ways To Improve Baltimore's Tunnel System For Trains
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Crowded trains are a fact of life during Thanksgiving travel, but a crowded Baltimore tunnel is a daily occurrence for Amtrak and Marc trains.
Alex DeMetrick reports digging a new tunnel is becoming a real possibility.
Whether heading north or south through Baltimore, those riding the northeast corridor travel through an antique.
"It really doesn't meet modern standards for rail roading," said Bradley Smith, Maryland Department of Transportation.
It did when Ulysses S. Grant was president in 1873, and the Baltimore and Potomac tunnel, or BP, was brand new.
Today it's a choke point running almost a mile and a half under Baltimore, slowing passenger travel on a good day and stopping it altogether when a train or rail breaks down inside.
"Train is backed up at least two hours so far," a passenger said.
"They say yeah, there'll be a train, but they don't know what time," another passenger said.
New tracks leading up to the tunnel start the log jam.
"It's two tracks through the tunnel, whereas north and south of the tunnel the northeast corridor is up to four tracks," Smith said.
That must accommodate 57 Marc trains and 85 Amtrak trains a day.
So two new tunnels are being studied; one looping north above the old BP to Penn Station, the other a straighter shot east.
Both an improvement because, "there's curves inside the tunnel which requires trains to slow down to 30 mph," Smith said.
Improving the existing tunnel is also being studied, along with a fourth calculating the impact of doing nothing at all--which might happen if federal money isn't found.
"Yes, we're counting on federal funding," Smith said.
Building a modern tunnel could easily hit one billion dollars; $60 million in federal money is funding the tunnel studies.
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