The Department of Homeland Security has its sights set on making railways across America more secure, and it could mean a major facelift for railroading in Baltimore.
A proposed bill, the Surface Transportation and Rail Security Act of 2007, if passed, will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to Amtrak and other transit services to update and better secure transportation routes.
This proposal calls for widened and expanded Amtrak tunnels in Washington, D.C., New York City and Baltimore that serve both business commuter travelers and commercial train traffic.
The draft legislation calls for fire and life-safety improvements in the system of tunnels.
The bill “is fundamentally about the reauthorization of Amtrak and developing a federal-state partnership on funding the [Northeast] Rail Corridor development,” said Ross Capon, executive director of the National Association of Rail Passengers. “The whole issue with Baltimore is another matter. That is, we?d like bigger tunnels for freight to get through, but definitely there is funding and therewould be funding in [the bill], if it was appropriated.”
According to Capon, this bill and its proposed rail security measures already have been approved in previous sessions of the Senate. The bill, however, has died in the House of Representatives.
The proposed work to the tunnels running under Charm City would split money allocated for the Northeast Corridor. This would be $63.5 million in 2008, $30 million in 2009 and $30 million in 2010. Capon told The Examiner that much of the money would go to enlarging the size of the tunnels. That would allow larger freight cars and make it easier for passengers and emergency crews to move through the tunnels in case of emergency.
Amtrak declined to comment.
