Amtrak picks first B&P Tunnel grantees under 2017 mitigation requirement

Amtrak has selected 11 West and Central Baltimore organizations for more than $4.1 million in B&P Tunnel community grants, the first round of a planned $50 million commitment.

Amtrak named the recipients in its announcement on September 30, 2026, and the selections remain preliminary. The railroad said both the list of grantees and the sums could still change while funding agreements are negotiated and signed. No breakdown of the total by organization was given.

The grants are tied to the replacement of the B&P Tunnel, which opened in 1873, runs 1.4 miles and caps train speeds at 30 mph. Amtrak puts the number of its own and MARC customers who depend on the tunnel at about 15 million. It describes the replacement program, built around the new Frederick Douglass Tunnel, as its largest-ever infrastructure investment.

A mitigation commitment dating from 2017

The Community Investment Program goes back to the federal approval of the project. The Federal Railroad Administration approved the preferred alternative for the tunnel replacement in 2017. Its Record of Decision set out mitigation measures that have to be carried out during design and construction, and the community program was among them, an Amtrak fact sheet states. Amtrak committed a total budget of $50 million and will accept grant applications every year until the money runs out.

The railroad links the program to a construction period it puts at 10 years. Sound barriers, monitoring of noise and vibration, and community outreach to deal with issues as they arise are among the other measures it has named.

Where the first $4.1 million goes

Five of the 11 grants are classed as community development. The Baltimore City Office of Information Technology plans computers and digital skills training at five sites along the alignment, including a senior center and a public housing property. Higher Achievement Program and Wide Angle Youth Media will run after-school programs. The Be Org will offer young people space for STEM education and workforce development in Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach, while Parity Baltimore Incorporated will use its grant for lighting, planters, facade upgrades and public art on Midtown Edmondson streets.

Three grants support parks and recreation. Baltimore Montessori Inc will improve its schoolyard in Greenmount West and add after-school programming, and the Bentalou Recreation Council will resurface the gym floor at Mary Ann Winterling Elementary and install new basketball hoops. Edmondson Community Organization Inc plans to turn a vacant Midtown Edmondson lot into a park. Two awards target jobs. Dent Education Inc will pay young people in Charles North to build professional skills, and Green Street Academy plans a Carroll-South Hilton initiative linking community members with careers in transportation infrastructure, construction and skilled trades. The only historic preservation grant is for Eutaw Place Non-Profit Corporation to restore the Emerson Mansion.

The program recognizes six investment categories, and the first round covers four of them. No selected project falls under open space or transportation, the one category whose projects may lie up to half a mile from the alignment instead of a quarter mile.

Four of the six categories received selections in the first round, and transportation, the only category with the wider half-mile limit, received none. Applicants must be non-profit organizations or city or state government agencies. Grant counts are a Railway Supply tally of the 11 grantees Amtrak listed by category; the selections are preliminary. Sources: Amtrak fact sheet, Community Investment Program page, Amtrak, September 30, 2026.

What else the $50 million pays for

The competitive grants are only one part of the budget. Amtrak’s fact sheet divides the $50 million between community grants and direct investments, a historic preservation grant fund and a Workforce Hub. In March the railroad put the preservation fund at $2.75 million for properties in the Midtown Edmondson and Edmondson Avenue historic districts. It also reserved $5 million for the Workforce Hub, which it is setting up with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development and Maryland Philanthropic Network to prepare residents for construction careers.

Amtrak is still choosing an organization to run the preservation fund: its project page for the administrator role says applications have closed and are under review. Outside the community program, the railroad says the tunnel project will bring Baltimore a further $750 million in direct infrastructure benefits. These include new road bridges, utility work and a modern commuter rail station.

Local reaction and the next round

Representative Kweisi Mfume and Mayor Brandon M. Scott were among the officials who welcomed the grants in Amtrak’s release. City Councilmember John T. Bullock was more cautious. In his view, West Baltimore neighborhoods have long carried the burden of large infrastructure projects without receiving enough of the benefit. He called the funding an important start and said he would keep pressing for investments that are equitable, transparent and responsive to residents.

Amtrak expects the next call for community grant applications in spring 2027. Construction is gathering pace ahead of the planned 2028 launch of the first of its two tunnel boring machines. The railroad is aiming to open the Frederick Douglass Tunnel in 2036, according to its July update on the program.

The application window for the 2026 round has closed, and Amtrak will take grant applications once a year until the program’s funds are used up. Sources: Amtrak fact sheet, Community Investment Program page, Amtrak, March 4, 2026, Amtrak, September 30, 2026, Amtrak, July 28, 2026.