Amtrak, the nation’s government-supported passenger rail service, is undergoing several expansion and modernization projects, upgrading trains, tracks and stations, with a particular emphasis on boosting East Coast services in an effort to increase ridership in the next decade-and-a-half.
Newsweek has reached out to Amtrak’s media team for comment via email on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Millions of riders rely on and use Amtrak for business and leisure. The rail operator set an all-time ridership record in its 2024 fiscal year with 32.8 million passengers. This month, the rail operator said it would focus efforts on increasing services in the East Coast as part of a larger effort to double national ridership by 2040.
Amtrak received billions of dollars in funding during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but there are growing concerns that the Trump administration could roll back support or reshape the rail service’s ownership as part of broader budget-cutting efforts. The rail operator functions on state and federal subsidies.
A map of several Amtrak projects and their progress status, as of March 2025. A map of several Amtrak projects and their progress status, as of March 2025. Amtrak
What To Know
The latest Amtrak project map, which showcases the Northeast Corridor, highlights a wide range of upgrades, including new tunnels, modernized rail systems, bridge replacements, station improvements, and rail yard enhancements.
There are currently six major construction sites: Hudson Tunnel Project, Portal North Bridge, Connecticut River Bridge, Baltimore Penn Station, Philadelphia Gray 30th Street Station, and Philadelphia rail yard.
The Northeast Corridor, which runs between Boston and Washington, D.C., with major metropolitan stops in New York City and Philadelphia, accounted for more than 14 million riders in fiscal year 2024—a 15.9 percent increase from the previous year.
Much of the construction activity is concentrated between New York and northeastern New Jersey, as well as between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) allocated $66 billion for rail projects, which was the largest federal investment in passenger rail since Amtrak was created.
The Trump administration has pledged to shrink the federal government by cutting contracts and reducing federal spending—raising concerns among Amtrak supporters that the rail operator’s funding could be at risk. Earlier in March, Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said “I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak for example…We should privatize everything we possibly can.”
On March 19, Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner abruptly stepped down as head of the railroad operator.
What People Are Saying
Amtrak said in a March 21 update: “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.”
Stephen Gardner, who served as CEO of Amtrak since 2022, said in a statement on Wednesday: “I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration…From my start as an Amtrak intern back in the 1990s to ending as CEO, it has been my honor and privilege to lead this great American company, and I wish Amtrak every success. See you on the rails.”
Jim Mathews, Rail Passengers Association president, told NPR on Friday about Elon Musk’s privatization push: “I think it’s a spectacularly bad idea. We already know it doesn’t work. The reason that Amtrak was born in 1971 was precisely because private capital could not operate in a way that would deliver returns to shareholders and still serve the public. And that’s Amtrak’s role today, is to provide passenger rail service and connectivity to mostly rural communities in places where private capital simply cannot afford to provide it.”
What Happens Next?
A successor for Gardner has not yet been named as the Amtrak projects remain underway.
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