Amtrak selected Herzog Contracting Corp. to design and build a heavy maintenance facility at its Penn Coach Yard in Philadelphia, the passenger rail operator announced March 1.
The facility will serve Acela and Northeast Regional trains operating on the Northeast Corridor, according to Amtrak. Laura Mason, Amtrak’s executive vice president of capital delivery, said in a statement that construction is expected to begin this year.
“This new facility will speed train maintenance and reduce response times, providing Amtrak customers with more reliable and frequent service,” Mason said.
The project is the first of five maintenance facility improvement projects that Amtrak plans to award contracts for this year. The others are in Seattle; Washington DC; New York and Boston. He is also planning a project for his facility in Rensselaer, New York
Amtrak is funding the projects with money from the Jobs and Infrastructure Investment Act.
An Amtrak spokesman could not immediately provide the value of the contract or the estimated cost of the project, but said the six facility projects will cost more than $1 billion combined.
Amtrak says it plans to spend about $5.5 billion this year on various projects, such as these rail yard improvements, in addition to infrastructure projects like the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program in Baltimore and station improvements.
Amtrak’s plans for Philadelphia also include renovations to its historic William H. Gray III 30th Street station. Construction began in January on this $550 million project, led by design-build contractor Gilbane Building Co.
