3 JVs take on $2.6B in Amtrak yard upgrades

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Award: Rail yard modernizations
Value: $1.3B (Sunnyside), $705M (Ivy City), $583M (Southampton)
Location: New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston
Client: Amtrak

Amtrak tapped joint ventures for a trio of contracts to reshape major Northeast Corridor rail yards, according to an Aug. 19 news release.

Trains impacted by the innovations will travel as far as Miami and New Orleans, according to the release. The modernizations are part of an effort to prep the tracks for Airo trains, which seek to increase passenger comfortability and options. Amtrak will introduce the trains in the Northeast Corridor beginning in 2027, Amtrak President Roger Harris said in the release.

The most expensive effort will unfold in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens in New York City.

Freeport, New York-based Scalamandre Construction and Bohemia, New York-based Citnalta Construction Corp. will serve as general contractors on the $1.3 billion program at Sunnyside Yard, an Amtrak spokesperson told Construction Dive. Plans call for a new two-track maintenance and inspection building, six new service and cleaning tracks with canopy coverage and a modular office compound, according to Amtrak.

The contractors will also restore 11 service platforms and reconfigure two major interlockings that tie the tracks into the Northeast Corridor. Amtrak expects phased work to run through 2030, according to the release.

In Washington, D.C., Amtrak awarded a joint venture of Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Construction and St. Joseph, Missouri-based Herzog a $705 million job to overhaul the Ivy City Yard. Crews will add three new exterior service and cleaning tracks with canopy coverage, in addition to the renovation of two maintenance facilities. The contract also includes replacement of the existing water main infrastructure, which will allow Amtrak to service multiple trainsets across the various facilities.

Work will proceed in phases with completion targeted for 2030, according to the release.

Boston’s Southampton Yard will undergo a $583 million rebuild under the direction of Salisbury, Massachusetts-based SPS New England and Paterson, New Jersey-based Railroad Construction Co, Amtrak told Construction Dive. The joint venture will construct a new two-track maintenance and inspection facility and convert an existing two-track maintenance and inspection facility into a two-track service and cleaning building.

Like the other yards, teams will perform work in phases, with full delivery anticipated in 2029, according to the release.