Baltimore Penn Station Updates

Timeline: Paused June 2026 — Amtrak and Penn Station Partners restructuring the project

Public-private partnership restoring the 1911 Kenneth Murchison-designed headhouse and adding new station and mixed-use development on the surrounding parcels. The exterior restoration and historic main hall work are complete, and a second Acela high-level platform is under construction. In June 2026, Amtrak and Penn Station Partners restructured the deal: Amtrak is taking over the headhouse interior restoration directly, while Penn Station Partners remains master developer for the surrounding streetscape and parcels. The planned second station building north of the tracks (along East Lanvale Street) has been shelved with no timeline, and the Lanvale staging lot reopened to the public in June 2026. Amtrak says it remains committed to phased station improvements with the Federal Railroad Administration.

Source: Amtrak / Penn Station Partners (June 2026); Baltimore Banner; Baltimore Sun

Timeline: Major construction underway; TBM boring from 2028; passenger service targeted 2036

The 150-year-old Baltimore & Potomac Tunnel just south of Penn Station is being replaced by the new $6B Frederick Douglass Tunnel — two new ~2-mile tubes for electrified Amtrak and MARC trains, the largest single rail infrastructure project on the NEC outside of Gateway. Preliminary work started in 2023 and initial demolition in early 2024; through 2026 the program has moved into heavy construction. Contractors completed a controlled-blast breakthrough on the utility siphon tunnel on March 9, 2026, and mid-2026 work across West Baltimore includes jet grouting near N Payson and Riggs, sheet-pile removal, sanitary sewer installation and utility relocations. Amtrak has excavated a 60-foot launch pit in West Baltimore for the first of two tunnel-boring machines — that machine is more than half built, and boring begins in 2028, a multi-year process. Reconstruction of the West Mulberry Street railroad bridge, first of five in the 10-mile corridor upgrade, is targeted to open in October 2027. On July 28, 2026 Amtrak president Roger Harris reaffirmed a 2036 target for passenger service. The current tunnel limits trains to 30 mph through Baltimore; the new one supports up to 100 mph.

Source: Amtrak Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program (amtraknewera.com)

Timeline: Early enabling projects funded; broader expansion phased over 5–15 years

MARC is gradually expanding Penn Line service with more weekday trains and improved weekend frequency between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The MARC Growth & Transformation Plan (June 2025) frames the program in 5-, 10-, and 15-year horizons; early enabling projects are funded, while the broader buildout is only partially funded.

Source: MTA Maryland