CSX pledges $160m more to expand Virginia Ave. tunnel

Project helps solve long-standing bottleneck for East Coast cargo A century-old train tunnel in the District will be upgraded, after railroad company CSX pledged $160 million on Wednesday to help ease a major bottleneck that currently limits cargo passing through the Washington region.

The money means that the freight shipper can start a long-sought process to expand the Virginia Avenue Tunnel that runs from Second Street to 11th Street just below the Capitol in Southeast. The project will widen and increase the height of the tunnel so trains can carry a double-stacked load of shipping containers. The expanded tunnel also will have a second set of tracks to allow more than one train to pass through the area at a time.