BALTIMORE (AP) — Replacing Amtrak’s Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel will take a least a decade or more to complete. But the $4 billion rail project has officially begun.
And officials say it will eliminate the biggest passenger rail bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey.
The Baltimore Sun reports that officials kicked off the project’s official start at an event on Friday that included the great-great-granddaughter of Frederick Douglass.
At #Amtrak50 event, Sec. Greg Slater announces @GovLarryHogan direction to advance @Amtrak B&P Tunnel discussions to benefit MD for years to come. #FrederickDouglass Tunnel allows @mtamaryland new MARC 30-min express between @BaltimoreMD & @washingtondc opens access to more jobs. pic.twitter.com/uZyaMpIKh8
— MDTransportationDept (@MDOTNews) June 18, 2021
The tunnel will be renamed after the famed abolitionist.
Douglass had escaped the bonds of slavery on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and eventually boarded a New York-bound train from Baltimore in 1838.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4qY32bNIRU