Connecting Philadelphia and Washington by rail for the first time, the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel opened when Ulysses S. Grant was president.
That was 1873 and now, 150 years later, the passageway that runs under Baltimore neighborhoods is a bottleneck that will be refurbished with funding from the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Job Acts that President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2022.
Standing in front of the tunnel and next to an Amtrak train, Biden delivered remarks on Jan. 30 outlining the $6 billion Baltimore-Potomac Tunnel Replacement Program that includes up to $4.7 billion in infrastructure bill funding.
President Joe Biden talks to audience members after delivering a speech near the Brent Spence Bridge (in the background) in Covington, Ky. on Jan. 4. (Jeff Louderback/The Epoch Times)
”I’ve been through this tunnel a thousand times,” Biden said, reminiscing of when he traveled the railway when he was a Delaware senator. “When folks talk about how badly the Baltimore tunnel needs an upgrade, you don’t need me to tell you, I’ve been there.”…}