On Sept. 26, CSX officials gathered at MICA’s Mt. Royal Station to celebrate the reopening of the Howard Street Tunnel – ahead of schedule. This event marked the completion of a construction project that increased the 130-year-old tunnel’s diameter by nearly two feet to accommodate double-stacked trains.
The construction to enlarge the tunnel began in February 2025 and was originally scheduled to include workarounds to accommodate existing train traffic, extending the completion date to late 2027. Subsequently, CSX negotiated an agreement to reroute the train traffic, allowing construction to proceed 24/7, which accelerated the completion of the work by nearly two years. According to CSX, the tunnel expansion was completed in 233 consecutive days of work, including weekends and holidays.
Train traffic has returned to the Howard Street Tunnel, and you can again hear the train whistles from Bolton Hill. Double-stacked trains, however, cannot be accommodated in the tunnel until the bridge and clearance work are completed on North Avenue and several other locations along the CSX corridor between Baltimore and Philadelphia. The entire clearance project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2026.
When finished, double-stacked trains will provide increased capacity and efficiency for intermodal shipping along the I-95 Corridor from Florida to the Northeast and provide improved access to the Midwest and other inland markets from the Port of Baltimore. The Port of Baltimore estimates that the clearance project will move an additional 160,000 containers through the port annually and generate 13,000 new jobs. CSX projects that the project could produce up to 125,000 new intermodal loads annually. This can have a tremendous direct impact on the local and national economy and should reduce truck traffic on the I-95 corridor.
The Howard Street Tunnel Clearance Project is an incredible accomplishment and a testament to how things can get done when the parties work together in partnerships. From the dedication and perseverance of the funding partners (CSX, the Federal Railroad Administration, the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the City of Baltimore) to the creativity and collaboration between CSX and its Skanska-Fay Joint Venture Construction team, this important national project was completed under budget and nearly 2 years early. And it happened in our backyard!
–Sallye Perrin
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