Biden touts infrastructure plan during visit to Baltimore train tunnel
US President Joe Biden visits a 150-year-old train tunnel in Baltimore to hail his infrastructure bill and announce funding of "over $4 billion to replace the existing Baltimore Potomac Tunnel."
Long Time Amtrak rider President Biden returned to a spot he’s been in hundreds of times: the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel.
“I’ve been through this tunnel a thousand times. When folks talk about how badly the Baltimore tunnel needs an upgrade, you don’t need me to tell you, I’ve been there,” said Biden, who recounted his frequent Amtrak trips between Washington, D.C., and his Delaware home while serving as a senator.
Biden stood beside the railroad tracks and a parked Amtrak train as he outlined how money from the bipartisan infrastructure law, which he signed in 2021, will be used to modernise the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel.
The tunnel is considered the largest bottleneck for the busy rail corridor between New York City and Washington, D.C., causing delays for thousands of passengers. The tunnel was built nearly 150 years ago.
The project is expected to create roughly 20,000 construction jobs, and the newly completed tunnel will be named after Maryland native and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
The renovations are expected to cost roughly $6 billion, with money from the bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed in 2021 contributing up to $4.7 billion, the White House said.
