New York’s Hudson Tunnel Project To Get $6.9 Billion In Largest U.S. Transit Grant

The Biden administration is awarding a $6.9 billion grant to help build a long-planned passenger rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Thursday, part of a critical connection to the rest of the Northeast Corridor.

The tunnel is part of a $16.1 billion overhaul of a section of rail that carries Amtrak and commuter lines into and out of Manhattan – the nation’s busiest transit corridor. The plan also calls for the revitalization of the 112-year-old tunnel, which was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

“This is a giant leap forward,” Schumer tweeted in announcing the grant from the Federal Transit Administration, noting it is the largest federal transit grant ever awarded.

The funding provides a path to construction for the new tunnel and rehabilitation of the existing tunnel to create a four-track system between New Jersey and Manhattan’s Penn Station, project officials say. That expansion is critical to eliminating one of the biggest bottlenecks in Amtrak’s Washington-to-New York corridor – the only crossing for passenger trains from New Jersey into the nation’s largest city.

Brian Fritsch, of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit that promotes projects in the New York metro area, said the federal funding guarantees construction will begin this year on both sides of the river. It also brings the project closer to being fully funded, Fritsch said.

“By advancing into the Engineering Phase, the project moves from planning to reality, ensuring we will build the 21st-century transportation system that our environment needs, that our nation’s economy relies on, and that trans-Hudson riders deserve,” he said in a statement.

Despite upgrades in recent decades, the crossing – used by more than 400 passenger trains each weekday – has not kept up with modern rail technology. At more than a century old, it is showing its age.

The concrete lining of the two single-track tunnels has worn. Water saturation has undermined the ground beneath the track ballast. The tunnel size creates a tight squeeze for modern train operations. Saltwater from Superstorm Sandy ravaged the electrical system, leading to signal problems that delay hundreds of thousands of passengers on commuter and intercity trains.

In January, the project was awarded a $292 million federal grant, which project officials said would be used to build an extension of the concrete tunnel casing on the New York side.

The 2.4-mile Hudson River Tunnel will be built by boring a trench and lowering preconstructed, sealed segments of concrete into the water. Some sections could be as much as 250 feet deep. After the new tunnel is built, officials will close the old tunnel for rehabilitation. Once both are open, commuter and passenger rail capacity will greatly increase.

Work on the new tunnel and overhaul of the existing tunnel are expected to take about a decade.

The Gateway Development Commission, which coordinates the project, said last year it would seek more federal grants to reduce the reliance on other financing and ultimately bring down costs. Stephen Sigmund, spokesman for the commission, said Thursday the group was “thrilled” by the injection of federal money.

Amtrak, which owns the existing tunnel, welcomed the news as an “important milestone” for the long-delayed project and applauded federal and regional commitments to the plan.

“We are thrilled to be even closer to the start of major construction on this critical Gateway Program project,” said Laura Mason, Amtrak’s executive vice president for capital delivery.

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