Amtrak Breaks Ground on $1B Sunnyside Yard Maintenance Facility
Amtrak broke ground on a $1 billion maintenance facility at Sunnyside Yard in Long Island City, New York, on Aug. 28, Construction Dive reports. A joint venture of Scalamandre Construction and Citnalta Construction will serve as general contractor on the project.
Market Impact
The Sunnyside Yard facility ranks as the fifth, and largest, major Amtrak maintenance facility to advance into significant construction over the past two years, according to the release. The phased work is primarily funded by Congress through Federal Railroad Administration grants and is expected to run through 2030.
The scope includes a new two-track maintenance and inspection facility, six new service and cleaning tracks, state-of-good-repair work on 11 existing service platforms, a modular office compound, and the reconfiguration of two major interlockings and tracks. Once complete, the facility will support Amtrak’s new Airo trainsets, which are replacing passenger cars that are 50 years old. “From this new maintenance facility to the East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project and so many other projects, Amtrak is delivering transformative investments that are reshaping the future of passenger rail in New York,” said Laura Mason, Amtrak’s executive vice president of capital delivery, in the Aug. 28 release. The work adds to other major station upgrades underway in Philadelphia, Washington, Boston and Seattle.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Heavy-civil and trackwork subs should watch for bid packages tied to the six new service and cleaning tracks and the reconfiguration of two major interlockings, which will require phased scheduling to keep the yard operational through 2030.
- Mechanical and electrical contractors have a long runway for work supporting the new two-track maintenance and inspection facility and the modular office compound, both of which typically generate M/E/P subcontract packages once the GC joint venture finalizes design.
- Firms with rail platform rehab experience should track the state-of-good-repair scope on 11 existing service platforms, since platform work often gets broken into smaller packages suited to specialty concrete and structural subs.
- Companies that worked the $2.6 billion in prior Amtrak yard upgrades awarded to three joint ventures last August should reach out to Scalamandre and Citnalta directly, since federally funded, multiyear rail projects like this one typically issue subcontract solicitations in stages rather than all at once.
- Subs bidding into this market should confirm FRA grant disbursement schedules with Amtrak’s capital delivery office, since funding release tied to congressional appropriations can shift the timing of individual work packages within the 2030 completion window.
