Amtrak will start accepting grant applications for community development work in West Baltimore this month, easing fears that $50 million for local projects may have been on the chopping block.

The Community Investment Program, part of the national passenger railroad’s multibillion-dollar replacement of an aged West Baltimore rail tunnel, will help fund projects for parks and green space, workforce development, transportation improvements and other community initiatives within a quarter-mile of the footprint of the future Frederick Douglass Tunnel.

The $6 billion-plus project will replace the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, which dates to the 1870s and is the oldest across Amtrak’s network. The narrow, twisting tunnel, which connects Penn Station to near the West Baltimore MARC station, is a frequent source of delays on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor.

The new tunnel, arcing farther north under West Baltimore, will allow trains to travel at up to 100 mph.

Officials have long pointed to the plans for community investment as a way that Amtrak is supporting the surrounding neighborhoods, even as residents impacted by construction criticized the tunnel project for benefiting people passing through Baltimore at the expense of those living here.

While the project got boosted by President Joe Biden, an Amtrak fan who visited Baltimore in 2023 to kick off the project, speculation about funding cuts has swirled since President Donald Trump took office just months after an inspector general report raised concerns about how the railroad managed the project money in its early days.

As costs increased, many worried that the community investment program might be deemed superfluous or even too “woke.”

Amtrak plans to dedicate $5 million of the fund for a new workforce hub that will train local residents for construction jobs. It also reserves $2.75 million for historic preservation projects in the Midtown-Edmondson neighborhood and along Edmondson Avenue.

The remaining funds are available for a slew of projects — from urban farms to art installations to improving sidewalks — within a quarter-mile of the tunnel footprint or a half-mile for transportation-related projects. Grants can range in size, and Amtrak will make them until funds run out.

Applications for grants open March 23 for nonprofit organizations as well as city and state government agencies.

Amtrak will hold virtual information sessions for interested residents to learn more and ask questions on March 23 and 31. In-person sessions are scheduled for March 25 and April 11.