The U.S. Department of Transportation has frozen $16 billion in federal funds for construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City.
This project, known as the Gateway Program, is among the most important passenger rail projects in the country, possibly second only to California High Speed Rail. Its delay, postponement or cancellation will harm the American economy and hurt real people.
The existing tunnels are used by New Jersey Transit and Amtrak. They were built in 1910, and were damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Part of the Gateway Program includes rehabilitation of the exiting tunnels.
The new tunnel will allow for doubling trans-Hudson capacity from 24 to 48 trains per hour, and will permit more high-speed service along the congested right-of-way between New York City and Newark, New Jersey. The new tunnel is scheduled for completion in 2035.
Political analyst Micah Rasmussen at Rider University told News 12 New Jersey the decision is directly linked to the government shutdown and finger-pointing over who is to blame. “There would be no reason to stop the funding other than a partisan difference or political motive,” Rasmussen said. “The prospect of this disrupting what has already been a years-overdue project is really just depressing and more of the same for New Jersey’s long-beleaguered commuters.”
This is the second time this century that work on a Hudson River rail crossing has been halted. The Access to the Region’s Core program began construction in 2009, with scheduled completion in 2018 at a cost of $8.7 billion. With $600 million already spent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cancelled the project in 2010.
This is an urgent matter, and the Department of Transportation must know people care. Make your voice heard by signing the petition!
Dear Secretary Duffy,
We, the undersigned, are outraged by the interruption of funding for the Gateway Program, which will bring much-needed and long-needed improvements to the rail connection between New Jersey and New York City, including a new sub-Hudson River rail tunnel and rehabilitation of the existing tunnels. We urge you to reinstate funding for the Gateway Program.
We assert the following facts:
- Millions of people and thousands of businesses and institutions depend on rail transportation beneath the Hudson River.
- The new tunnel, scheduled for completion in 2035, will allow for doubling trans-Hudson capacity from 24 to 48 trains per hour, and will permit more high-speed service along the congested right-of-way between New York City and Newark.
- The tunnels currently in use, by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, were built in 1910, were badly damaged by a hurricane in 2012, and need significant rehabilitation, which is part of the Gateway Program. Rehabilitation of the exiting tunnels is scheduled for completion in 2038.
- The Northeast Corridor is the most heavily traveled railway in the United States.
- This project is among the most important passenger rail projects in the county, possibly second only to California High Speed Rail. Its delay, postponement or cancellation will harm the American economy and hurt real people.
- Elaine Chao, the U.S. Transportation Secretary in the first Trump Administration, called the project an “absolute priority.”
- Construction began in 2023. Work is underway, including the Tonnelle Avenue overpass, which is near completion. Other portions of the work that are in progress now include concrete casing near Hudson Yards, Hudson River ground stabilization, the Palisades tunnel approach on the New Jersey side, and the Manhattan tunnel project on the New York side.
- This is the second time this century that work on a Hudson River rail crossing has been halted. The Access to the Region’s Core program began construction in 2009, with scheduled completion in 2018 at a cost of $8.7 billion. With $600 million already spent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cancelled the project in 2010.
- There is a significant cost to starting and stopping this project – a cost which can never be recovered if the work is never completed.
Therefore, we petition the Department of Transportation for immediate reinstatement of the funds for the Gateway Program.
