Amtrak restores service after First Street Tunnel work

Amtrak said it completed work at A-Interlocking in the First Street Tunnel and resumed train operations on Oct. 26, 2026. The restoration ended the project’s planned service-change period for trains traveling south of Washington.

The project was at A-Interlocking in the First Street Tunnel, just south of Washington Union Station. The junction serves Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains traveling between Washington and Virginia, so the work affected service on routes connecting the capital with points south.

How the work period differed from VRE’s schedule change i

Amtrak described the construction effort as nine days and listed Oct. 16–26 as the service-change window. Those dates describe related but different things. Counting both endpoints, the window names 11 calendar dates; VRE said the work would begin after its service ended on Oct. 16 and continue into early Oct. 26.

VRE’s modified schedule applied for five dates, Oct. 19–23. During that period, its trains were scheduled to terminate at or originate from L’Enfant Plaza rather than Union Station. VRE advised passengers who needed Union Station to arrange another way to travel between the two stations. The modified schedule fell within the broader project window, but did not cover all of it.

Switches, track and cable were all replaced or renewed i

The project went beyond replacing switching equipment. Amtrak reported work on the track base, rail, ties, ballast and signal and electrical cable as well. The reported quantities were:

Those figures show the breadth of the work at the junction: crews renewed several connected parts of the rail and signaling infrastructure, not just individual switches. Amtrak’s announcement confirms that train operations resumed, but does not report post-project measurements of delays, reliability or operating speeds. Completion therefore establishes the end of the planned disruption, not a measured improvement in service performance.

Before construction, NBC4 reported an estimated project cost of about $8.5 million and said the work would receive a significant amount of federal funding. That was a pre-construction estimate, not a confirmed final cost. Amtrak’s completion announcement did not state the final cost or the federal contribution.