Amtrak cancels controversial vent for West Baltimore tunnel project, citing cost savings

Amtrak will not proceed with plans to build a controversial ventilation facility along Baltimore’s West North Avenue for the future Frederick Douglass Tunnel, citing project cost savings.

The facility was proposed as an access point along the future two-mile passenger rail tunnel. It was designed both to vent smoke during a fire and serve as an emergency exit for passengers.

Amtrak still plans to build similar ventilation facilities near each entrance of the tunnel: a south facility near Mosher Street and North Payson Street in the Midtown-Edmondson neighborhood, and a north facility in the shadow of where Interstate 83 crosses over West North Avenue.

Removing the third facility from its construction plans will not impact future safe train operations within the tunnel, according to Amtrak spokesperson W. Kyle Anderson. It will also reduce future construction and noise impacts in the area, he added.

Removing the mid-tunnel ventilation facility to the planned replacement of the 153-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel appears to be part of a broader effort by Amtrak and the Federal Railroad Administration to trim costs on the $6 billion-plus project.

President Joe Biden visited Baltimore in early 2023 to highlight that the project would replace a Civil War-era tunnel and fix the worst bottleneck on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Shortly after, as crews began preparing for initial construction, the ventilation facility became a point of contention for area residents concerned about the project’s impact on their neighborhood.

People in nearby Reservoir Hill turned out at public meetings and mounted a fierce campaign to push back on the tunnel. They cited potential damage to historic properties during construction, air quality concerns and the possibility of hazardous material carried by freight trains.

Residents also filed a civil rights complaint against the U.S. Department of Transportation two years ago, alleging that the project would have a disparate impact on several majority-Black neighborhoods.

As part of the pending complaint, they questioned the FRA’s selected route, which proposes an arcing curve instead of the more direct route of the current tunnel. The proposed route will allow trains to travel through the tunnel at speeds up to 100 mph, whereas the current tunnel restricts them to around 30 mph.

“Admitting the vent site is unnecessary is a step in the right direction,” Keondra Prier, a Reservoir Hill neighborhood leader, wrote in a text message Tuesday.

Amtrak long held that the ventilation facility posed no threat to the nearby community because the tunnel is designed for electric passenger trains. They were also planning to place the vent facility’s fans so that, in the event of a tunnel fire, they would blow smoke and dust away from the school.

The passenger railroad acquired and cleared several mostly vacant structures to make way for the ventilation facility. It’s unclear what they’ll do with the now-empty lot.

Amy Petkovsek, director of the Community Law Center, which has worked with groups to raise awareness of construction impacts, called the elimination of the ventilation facility a “significant victory.”

“We see this as the beginning of many steps that still need to be taken by Amtrak and the FRA to remediate the extensive damage and chaos occurring daily,” Petkovsek wrote in an email.

As crews on the tunnel project hum along with relocating utilities and other preparations, designers are working to assemble two tunnel boring machines in Germany. When completed, they will be shipped across the Atlantic to dig through the rock and dirt in West Baltimore.

Amtrak anticipates the tunnel to be completed and ready for trains by 2036.