Tag: ARC tunnel

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Analysis: Hudson rail tunnel plan is popular, but no one wants the bill

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AUGUST 12, 2015, 11:51 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2015, 11:56 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG AND HERB JACKSON
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

It’s the tunnel that everyone agrees is necessary and no one wants to pay for.

This week, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York became the latest person to step into the fray, saying a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River should be built by a non-profit development corporation established specifically to tap every available pot of federal, state and regional money.

“We’ll only get Gateway done by adding up several pieces of financing, with an eye toward getting the maximum amount possible from the federal government,” Schumer said Tuesday at a news conference, referring to the name Amtrak has given a nascent plan for a new two-track tunnel.

But pursuing that financing requires promises from Governor Christie, a Republican presidential candidate who canceled a previous tunnel project, and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, who does not even want to meet to discuss it.

And until they are on the same page, any chance of persuading a Republican-led Congress focused on spending cuts to get behind a project as big as Gateway is a heavy lift indeed.

Still, Christie, Cuomo, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and nearly every transportation expert from Boston to Washington, D.C., agree with Schumer that work should begin immediately to build a new train tunnel, which would supplement the existing, century-old one that is beginning to fail.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/analysis-hudson-rail-tunnel-plan-is-popular-but-no-one-wants-the-bill-1.1391222

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Amtrak contextualizes apology for July delays

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Testifying this morning in front of the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, Steve Gardner of Amtrak cited outdated, deteriorated infrastructure – worsened by the impact of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – as the culprit for massive train delays during the week of July 20th. (Max Pizarro, Politickernj.com) https://politickernj.com/2015/08/amtrak-contextualizes-apology-for-july-transit-delays/

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Amtrak: Hard number for what NJ would pay for tunnel currently unknown

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Following a presentation by an Amtrak representative Monday morning, state Senator M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29) asked about how a proposed Gateway Program designed to relieve outdated infrastructure would alter or enhance Newark Penn Station. (Max Pizarro, Politickernj.com) https://politickernj.com/2015/08/amtrak-hard-number-for-what-nj-would-pay-for-tunnel-currently-unknown/

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Amtrak rep: ‘I know of no viable alternative’ to 2025-timed Gateway program

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If the earliest a new tunnel can be built is 2025, according to Steve Gardner of Amtrak, what happens between now and then if there is a significant system failure, asked state Senator Robert Gordon (D-38), chairman of the Senate Oversight Committee. “I know of no viable alternative,” Gardner told Gordon. (Max Pizarro, Politickernj.com) https://politickernj.com/2015/08/amtrak-rep-i-know-of-no-viable-alternative-to-2025-timed-gateway-program/

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N.J. lawmakers present a united front for new rail tunnel

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Unlike the ARC tunnel the Gov Christie cancelled the Gateway Project will go direct to Penn Station and will not be entirely funded by NJ tax payers 

N.J. lawmakers present a united front for new rail tunnel

JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:32 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 4, 2015, 10:39 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
RECORD COLUMNIST |
THE RECORD

With both houses of Congress about to be controlled by Republicans, whose hard-liners denounce expensive federal projects as wasteful pork and have banned lawmakers from earmarking funds for pet projects, a bipartisan delegation from New Jersey is gearing up to win support for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

Both Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat, and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican, said they are hopeful they can get a commitment at least to start Amtrak’s Gateway project when Congress takes up a multiyear transportation financing bill next spring.

Frelinghuysen, of Harding, said he thought the chances of some success are “pretty good.” Menendez, of Paramus, said he was “cautiously optimistic.”

“I’m not saying it’ll be the whole kit and caboodle … but once we are committed to the project, then we have a better chance to ensure its totality,” Menendez said.

Rail access to New York City has taken on a new urgency following Amtrak’s revelation last year that the existing two-track tunnel, built 104 years ago, will fail within 20 years because of damage from Superstorm Sandy flooding. Before then, delays will become common for Amtrak and NJ Transit, which uses Amtrak’s Hudson tunnel, because of periodic closures to stabilize it.

Gateway calls for a new two-track tunnel under the river and other construction, including new or rebuilt bridges in the Meadowlands, to provide four tracks between Newark and New York City. The next few months will be critical in determining whether the project moves off the drawing board, because Congress faces a May deadline for a new transportation bill.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/jackson-n-j-lawmakers-present-a-united-front-for-new-rail-tunnel-1.1186037