Amtrak Begins Major Rail Yard Projects,
Including $769M Work in Long Island City
WASHINGTON—Amtrak announced on Aug. 19 it had awarded design-build contracts and begun preconstruction activities for three rail yard modernization projects on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) that will help improve service reliability and enable more efficient train maintenance. The rail yard projects are located in Long Island City, NY, Boston and Washington, DC.
“These investments are key to introducing our new Airo trains on the Northeast Corridor beginning in 2027,” said Amtrak President Roger Harris. “With ridership and revenue at all-time highs, we’re making great strides to meet this growing demand with new, state-of-the-art trains that will improve service reliability and the overall customer experience.”
The project at Sunnyside Yard in Long Island City, Queens involves a joint venture of Scalamandre-Citnalta, which will design and construct new maintenance, inspection, and servicing facilities—as well as other related upgrades—to support Northeast Regional, Acela, Long Distance and commuter trains that operate out of the yard that connect with cities such as Albany, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Miami, and New Orleans.
The improvements include: construction of a new two-track Maintenance & Inspection facility; construction of six new Service and Cleaning tracks with canopy coverage; consolidation of commissary, employee workspace, material storage, and parking into a single location within the yard, including an efficient modular office compound. The project will bring 11 existing service platforms to a state of good repair (required to clean/prepare trains for passenger service and store trainsets when not in operation). Other infrastructure upgrades to accommodate this work include reconfiguration of two major interlockings and tracks connecting the yard to the NEC.
On June 23, Citnalta and Scalamandre received Notice to Proceed for Amtrak’s $769-million project. Work will be conducted in phases, with full project completion expected in 2030. Two similar rail yard projects are under construction in Philadelphia and Seattle, and another is in planning for Rensselaer/Albany, NY.
A joint venture of SPS New England-Railroad Construction Company was awarded the design-build project at Southampton Yard in Boston, while a Clark Herzog joint venture won the design-build project at Ivy City Yard in Washington, DC.
Published: August 27, 2025.