The 148-year old tunnel, which slows trains to 30 miles per hour, is the biggest bottleneck between Washington, D.C. and New Jersey.

Maryland's "decrepit Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel" could soon be getting an upgrade after "Amtrak and Maryland announced an agreement Friday on a $4 billion plan to build a replacement in the next decade." As Luz Lazo writes in the Washington Post, "[t]he 148-year-old tunnel under West Baltimore is a major bottleneck for Amtrak, Maryland’s MARC commuter trains and commercial rail traffic that moves through the Northeast Corridor."
As "[o]ne of the oldest structures in the Northeast rail corridor, the B&P tunnel is a crucial piece of the network connecting Washington to Boston, moving more than 259 million passengers each year." But the 1.4-mile tunnel slows trains to 30 miles per hour as they pass through, making the tunnel "the biggest chokepoint between Washington and New Jersey." The tunnel also "has critical structural problems, including water issues and brick deterioration, according to a federal review of the project." The new tunnel would only accommodate electric trains, and "Maryland officials said the state agreed to electrify all MARC trains by the time the tunnel would open in as early as 2032."
"The proposal is a scaled-down version of a plan approved four years ago by the Federal Railroad Administration that called for four single-track tunnel tubes. Railroad officials say by building only two tunnels, the project will save $1 billion and up to two years on construction while still tripling train capacity to accommodate future demand." To move forward, Amtrak and state leaders must still secure state and federal funding for the project.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Bend, Oregon Zoning Reforms Prioritize Small-Scale Housing
The city altered its zoning code to allow multi-family housing and eliminated parking mandates citywide.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

LA Denies Basic Services to Unhoused Residents
The city has repeatedly failed to respond to requests for trash pickup at encampment sites, and eliminated a program that provided mobile showers and toilets.
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