Amtrak and dozens of major industry partners representing construction, manufacturing, rail supply, engineering, and other sectors convened for an industry roundtable to discuss trends and highlight the hundreds of major rebuilding projects that Amtrak and its partners are delivering across America, today and into the future. 

The partners, who are helping to deliver many of Amtrak’s biggest projects, together represent more than 100,000 American workers from all 50 states.

Participants included AECOM, Alstom, Clark Construction Group, The Coalition for the NEC, Herzog, HNTB Corporation, Jacobs, Kiewit, Parsons Corporation, PennFab, Railroad Construction Co., Siemens, Skanska, STV, voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak, Vossloh North America, Wabtec, and WSP USA, among others.

A New Amtrak

With new investments, Amtrak is transforming into a modern and efficient intercity passenger rail operator achieving historic ridership demands while leading an innovative construction arm that leverages industry expertise to safely and efficiently deliver quality assets. 

After investing an unprecedented $4.5 billion into major infrastructure and fleet projects last year, Amtrak plans to increase its capital investments by 50% in 2025.

“America deserves world-class infrastructure, and here at Amtrak we are doing our part,” said Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner. “We’re leading a strong American workforce and private-sector partners in building new bridges, tunnels, and trains to help meet the historic demand for intercity passenger rail and improve connections for millions of people in more than 500 cities, towns, and rural areas around the country.”

“We’ve been partnering with Amtrak for more than a decade to transform American infrastructure,” said Siemens Mobility North America CEO Mark Buncher. “From the first diesel-electric locomotives to the Amtrak Airo, we’re building the future of American-made rail technology at our North American Rolling Stock manufacturing facility in Sacramento, Calif. — and soon-to-open east coast hub in Lexington, N.C. With more than 4,500 U.S. team members and 2,000 American rail suppliers, we are committed to delivering Amtrak the latest in rail technology.”

Addressing Critical Infrastructure

Amtrak’s new era of rail is replacing, upgrading, and repairing iconic century-old bridges, tunnels, stations, and other critical infrastructure assets. 

These structures date back to at least the early 1900s and were designed, built, or opened primarily during the Presidencies of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. 

Amtrak is also replacing a majority of its train fleet, which serves 500-plus communities in 46 states and today averages nearly 40 years old, with some equipment dating back to Amtrak’s creation in 1971.

Collectively, these transformative projects are creating the largest boom in rail construction in company history, putting hundreds of thousands of skilled Americans to work and jump-starting American manufacturing like never before in company history. 

As Amtrak ramps up its capital program, the company has continued its commitment to buy American products, with 99% of procurements domestically based in Fiscal Year 2024.

Amtrak is making progress on huge projects across multiple portfolios, thanks to strong partnerships with the private sector, including:

• Introducing new state-of-the-art trains across the country, including 111 modern trainsets and 125 high-powered locomotives in production, as well as an upcoming contract award to replace hundreds of Long-Distance railcars.

• Building new bridges and tunnels that will remove major bottlenecks, including breaking ground on a megaproject to replace the 151-year-old B&P Tunnel, which opened when America’s 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant, was in office.

• Advancing the company’s biggest-ever station improvement program, improving accessibility at 380-plus stations across the National Network, as well as restoring several major stations to their original glory.

In addition to major, once-in-a-generation projects, Amtrak is also conducting important annual renewal work through its state-of-good repair program, which maintains tracks, signals, power, and other important rail systems.