Following an intensive nine-day construction period, Amtrak has completed its “Pause for Progress” infrastructure improvements on time in the First Street Tunnel just south of Washington Union Station. Train operations resumed today ahead of the busy holiday travel season.
The project required temporary service changes for trains traveling south of Washington from Oct. 16-26. Amtrak coordinated closely with VRE, VPRA and NCDOT throughout the project. Amtrak also appreciates the cooperation and flexibility of CSX, Norfolk Southern, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in helping to accommodate operational changes during this period.
The planned outage allowed crews to replace aging infrastructure at A-Interlocking, a critical track and control point for Amtrak and VRE trains traveling between Washington and Virginia. The work included replacing switches and crossovers, rehabilitating the tunnel track base, and installing modern electric switch systems.
During the project, crews:
- Replaced seven key track components (eight new electric switch machines, two double-slip switches, one crossing diamond)
- Rehabilitated 350 feet of track/tunnel base
- Installed 550 tons of ballast
- Replaced 1,000 feet of rail and 215 ties
- Installed 2,500 feet of signal/electrical cable
- Logged approximately13,300 work hours per day
-via Press Release
