Gateway Tunnel Is in Line for Funds From Infrastructure Bill, Says Amtrak CEO

(Bloomberg) -- Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor stands to receive $30 billion from the recently approved bipartisan infrastructure bill that will be used for improvements including the Gateway tunnel project, according to the company’s chief executive officer.

The roughly $66 billion that was included in the $550 billion infrastructure measure will be split between Amtrak and the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn said Wednesday in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power With David Westin.” 

“They will invest, like Amtrak, in projects along the Northeast corridor,” Flynn said. “So about $30 billion for the Northeast corridor between the two sets of money.”

The infrastructure bill is expected to be signed into law soon by President Joe Biden.

Flynn said about $6 billion of the money Amtrak receives will go to maintenance that has been deferred, while the rest will be spent on capital improvement projects that involve bridges and tunnels. 

Funding will be focused along the Washington-Boston corridor for maintenance, trains and other rolling stock, he said. The infusion will also help further the Gateway project that would add new a rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, in addition to other bridge projects.

“The Hudson River Tunnel is a 15-year project, from where we are today moving through all the approvals,” Flynn said. “We’ve acquired capacity and properties in New York. But that is going to be a long-life project. But we’ve got to get started, and the funding here really catalyzes that.” 

The first project to get underway is Portal North Bridge across the Hackensack River in New Jersey. “You would’ve seen an announcement from New Jersey Transit and Amtrak where we have now issued the contract to begin the construction of the new Portal North Bridge,” he said. “That will be starting this year.”

The money will be coming at a time when Flynn said Amtrak ridership has recovered to about 70% of its pre-pandemic levels. 

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