Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel

The Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel (also known as THE Tunnel) is a proposed railroad tunnel that would be built under the Hudson River, connecting New Jersey and New York. This new tunnel would add transportation capacity to the existing two single-track railroad tunnels under the Hudson River, the North River Tunnels, used by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, that are already operating near full capacity.

The Tunnel would include:
* two new tracks under the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades
* a new six-track passenger station under 34th Street connecting with Pennsylvania Station
* improvements in New Jersey to provide a one-seat ride to Midtown Manhattan for New Jersey Transit riders on the Raritan Valley Line, Main Line/Bergen County Line and Pascack Valley Line (who must now transfer at Secaucus Junction).
* a rail storage yard in Kearny, New Jersey.

Current status

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced on July 19, 2006, its decision to allow preliminary engineering to begin on a second trans-Hudson rail tunnel between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/nyregion/19tunnel.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New Hudson Rail Tunnel Is Nearing Federal Approval] , "The New York Times," July 19 2006] Supporters called the FTA's announcement a positive sign that the federal government eventually intends to commit funding to the project.

The project is slated to begin construction in 2009 and is scheduled for completion in 2017.

Ridership between the Garden State and Midtown Manhattan is projected to double to 100,000 rush-hour passengers daily by 2015. Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine has said he wants the tunnel to go to construction in 2009.

The preliminary engineering work is expected to cost $90 million and take 18 months to finish, and will include finalizing track alignment, determining how best to build the tunnel and coordinating efforts with Amtrak and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to minimize passenger disruptions during construction, according to officials. Another key component of the overall project is creation of a new rail terminal for NJ Transit passengers under 34th Street in Manhattan, located next to Penn Station.

Corzine committed $500 million of state funds to the entire project. Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a major project proponent, has said he wants the bistate agency to commit as much as $2 billion to the eventual cost of the new tunnel. In its December 2006 ten-year capital budget presentation, the Port Authority included $2 billion towards the new cross Hudson tunnel project. [ [http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/BIZ/612150321/-1/BIZ Port Authority plans ahead] , "Times Herald-Record", December 15, 2006]

On August 8, 2006, the NJ Transit Board of Directors awarded an $82.5 Million contract for initial engineering for the New Hudson Rail Tunnel. [ [http://www.infrasite.nl/news/news_article.php?ID_nieuwsberichten=4891&language=en Engineering begins on Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel: NJ TRANSIT Board awards $82.5M contract] , dated August 9, 2006]

On December 13, 2006, NJ Transit picked a construction management firm for the Trans-Hudson Express tunnel, known as the CM Consortium, a joint venture of Tishman Corp., Parsons Corp. and ARUP, to perform the construction management services for the project. Current cost projections for completion of the tunnel are $7.2 Billion. [ [http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-5/116607465516870.xml&coll=1 NJ Transit picks construction manager for tunnel] , "The Star-Ledger", December 14, 2006]

On January 18, 2007, the Federal Transit Administration approved the draft environmental impact statement for the trans-Hudson tunnel. The approval will allow the Port Authority to conduct public hearings on the tunnel proposal. [ [http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Hud_tunnel-20Jan07.html FTA approves next major step for tunnel project] dated January 20, 2007 - Mid-Hudson News Network]

See Also

Access to the Region’s Core

References

External links

* [http://www.accesstotheregionscore.com/ Access to the Region's Core]
* [http://www.njtransit.com/nn_press_release.jsp?PRESS_RELEASE_ID=1867 New Jersey Transit Press Release:Reactivation of Northern Branch Rail Line Moves Forward] June 8 2005
* [http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/NEWS03/602210360/1029/NEWS13 Support announced for new tunnel, February 21 2006]