Amtrak Selects UOC Construction Contractor

Amtrak has selected Wohlsen Construction Company as construction contractor for the $53 million Unified Operations Center (UOC) Facility Project in Wilmington, Del. Wohlsen will advance the buildout and construct workspaces, conference rooms, operations center, Tier-3 data center, video wall systems, mechanical and electrical system upgrades and building-wide improvements at the 164,789-square-foot Renaissance Centre in downtown Wilmington, where Amtrak’s existing Consolidated National Operating Center and Wilmington Dispatching Office for the Southeast Division will be combined.

The UOC, expected to be completed in 2027, will be an integrated 24/7 operations center to monitor and manage national operations and dispatch the mid-Atlantic Division, which encompasses all train movements in the Washington-Philadelphia-Harrisburg segments of the Northeast Corridor. Additionally, the UOC will house the National Operations Control Center, which manages Amtrak’s fleet and onboard crew assignments and coordinates the company’s response to service disruptions. The new Tier-3 data center will support Amtrak’s operations “to ensure system resiliency.”

The UOC, Amtrak said, “is being designed to fundamentally change and improve the way Amtrak operations employees work by facilitating faster detection and responsiveness to operating events, effective customer communications during service disruptions, efficient fleet and crew utilization and improved rail traffic movement. Acquisition of the Renaissance Centre fulfills an important facility need that will improve Amtrak operations and resiliency,” since the existing facilities are located next to the flood-prone Christina River.

Amtrak also plans to consolidate other functions into the building including relocations of the Amtrak Police Department National Communications Center, Amtrak Test Kitchen with associated offices, and Digital Technology personnel from temporary office space at Wilmington Station.