New Hope for New Rail Tunnels

Funding could be in place in two years for project under Hudson, official says.

Federal financing could be in place in two years to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River that would augment the crumbling 106-year-old rail tunnels used daily by commuters, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Fri- day morning.

Construction on the Gateway Project would begin in 2019, Schumer said at a news conference with U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), and Amtrak and Port Authority officials.

Amtrak's Gateway Project includes two new tunnels under the Hudson River, a Penn Station south annex, a sec- ond Portal Bridge and a loop for Bergen County trains to travel to New York.

Preliminary estimates put the project's cost at $23 billion, a number that could change after preliminary engineering and design is done, Amtrak officials said. A deal between the federal government and New York and New Jersey to fund Gateway was brokered last November.

The project would be paid for with federal grants, low-in- terest loans and state funding.

A funding agreement to build a new Portal Bridge north could be signed by federal officials in March 2018, with con-struction tentatively beginning in July 2018, Schmuer said. The new bridge, estimated to cost $940 million, is designed and ready to be built.

The 100-year-old swing bridge carries the Northeast Corridor line over the Hackensack River in Kearny. It causes delays when it gets stuck open.

"Everything is now in place. Everything is aligned for the money to flow," said Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). "The application for funding is bullet-proof."

No timetable was given for when the tunnels could be open for rail traffic.

The Hudson River tunnels have been included on the "President's Permitting Dashboard," which allows the same kind of fast-tracking that the Port Authority used to speed reconstruction of the Bayonne Bridge. That could save one year on an environmental review that is underway and "bil- lions of dollars" off the final Gateway cost, Schumer said.

Gateway is the first project to apply for a federal "Emerg- ing Projects" loan, allowing it to tap into a $35 billion railroad loan program, Foxx said. He said future progress will be up to the states. "We've carried the ball to the 50-yard line," Foxx said. "Every yard beyond will require work by our state and local partners."

Both Gateway and the Portal Bridge were included for con- sideration this summer under the federal New Starts pro- gram, the same program that provided $3 billion in funding for the ARC tunnel project, canceled by Gov. Chris Christie in October 2010.

Unlike ARC, Gateway cannot be stopped by one public offi- cial pulling the plug, Schumer said.

He cautioned that any official who tries to derail the regional project will face "dire consequences."

The Gateway Project will require matching funds from New York and New Jersey. Some of that funding is coming from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which will meet Thursday to take up Gateway items that have the "full-throated endorsement" of the governors of both states, said authority Executive Director Patrick Foye.

While he didn't elaborate on what those items are, some of the funding will come from the Port Authority's 10-year capital plan, under a commitment made by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Schumer said. The authority's board of com- missioners still has to revise that plan to include projects such as Gateway, a new Midtown bus terminal and a replace- ment for the Newark Airport monorail, which aren't in the current plan.

"We need the states of New York and New Jersey, working through the Port Authority, to come through," Menendez said. "Only then will Gateway become reality."