A ‘rail’ $3.8B boost to Hudson project
Work has begun on the massive Hudson River Gateway rail project between New York and New Jersey — as the feds said Friday they will be coughing up another $3.8 billion to complete the improvements.
The new funding breathes life into the long-stalled transit plan, which costs $16.1 billion in total and will double the number of tracks running between the two states, officials said at a press conference Friday.
“It’s all systems go, there’s no turning back,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), calling the Gateway project the “most consequential infrastructure project in all of America.”
“With all these new dollars, Gateway is secure,” he said.
Back on track
The new link is expected to be completed by 2035, with the rehab of the existing tunnel to be completed over the following three years, officials say.
When the two-step project is over, the MTA, Amtrak and NJ Transit will have four tracks they can use to run trains across the Hudson, meaning that if there’s a breakdown or a problem on one track, it won’t cripple service for the entire Northeast.
Schumer, Gov. Hochul, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other dignitaries gathered near the West Side Rail Yards for the morning press conference, where they celebrated the $3.8 billion infusion.
All told, the federal government and Amtrak have promised or provided roughly $12 billion in funding, which accounts for three-quarters of the price tag. The rest of the cost will be split between Albany and Trenton.
Additionally, officials said they are beginning construction on the underground linkage between Penn Station and the tobe-built tunnel.
The project, which is governed by the Gateway Development Commission, puts the total price tag at $16.1 billion, but federal regulators have warned that it could grow to $17.2 billion, depending on interest rates.
Officials argue that reliability issues with the current tunnel alone make the Gateway Project essential — even in a post-pandemic world, where working from home means that commuter railroads and the subways have brought back only 70% to 80% of their weekday ridership.
The pre-pandemic trains were packed to the point of overcrowding as commuters were forced to stand in the aisles, while the railroads tried to shove so many trains into the existing two-track tunnel that any delay quickly wrecked schedules for commutes across the system.
One more junction
The new tracks, officials say, will fix the reliability issues as well as address one of the biggest bottlenecks that forced riders for years to change trains in Newark or switch to ferries or the PATH at Hoboken to come into Manhattan.
However, one major jam remains: Penn Station itself.
The rail terminal can fit only up to 24 trains per hour running under the Hudson River as it is
currently configured and operated. The new tunnel and tracks could fit 48 or more.
The MTA, Amtrak and NJ Transit have pitched a controversial $17 billion proposal that would create a 12-track expansion directly south of the station.
However, advocates have demanded the railroads come up with a plan to increase the capacity of the existing complex.
The MTA internally developed a program that could increase Penn Station’s capacity by up to 45% by improving the signal systems and, most crucially, having the three major railroads improve efficiency by cooperating more on schedules and service.
The plan would cost only around $3 billion, but it was shelved in favor of the larger terminal proposal, which would allow each agency to essentially keep its own fiefdoms at Penn.