Last month it was announced that the new Hudson River rail tunnels will get a EUR 61.43 million (USD 70 million) injection from Amtrak (50%) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (50%) to start preliminary engineering work. Other partners are the federal Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit, which provides transportation services in the state, including rail and bus services to New York City.
The Hudson River project consists of the construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, including railroad infrastructure in New Jersey and New York connecting the new rail tunnel to the existing Northeast Corridor’s (NEC), and the rehabilitation of the existing 106-year-old NEC tunnel, known as the North River Tunnel, beneath the Hudson River.
Each of the two separate tubes of the old tunnel accommodates a single track for electrically powered trains, and extends approximately 4 km (2.5 miles). It had been damaged by corrosive flood waters driven by Hurricane Sandy. Transportation agencies are in a race against time to start the EUR17.55 billion (USD20 billion Gateway Program. The program will increase track, tunnel, bridge, and station capacity, eventually creating four mainline tracks between Newark, NJ, and Penn Station, New York, including the new, two-track Hudson River tunnel. Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) estimates the earliest the new tunnels could be in service would be by 2030.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and NJ TRANSIT are jointly preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the Hudson Tunnel Project. On the 05.02.2016 a NOI Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS was published.
Persons interested in providing orally or written comments on the scope of the EIS must do so by 31.05.2016 via the internet, email, mail or at the public scoping meetings.
FRA and NJ TRANSIT will hold two scoping meetings 17 and 19 May. Click here for the EIS Scoping Document and us/21 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.hudsontunnelproject.com/ and https://www.federalregister.gov. 19/16.
Links used:-
https://nec.amtrak.com/content/gateway-program
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/05/02/2016-10277/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-the-hudson-tunnel-project-in-hudson-county-new-jersey-and-new
http://www.hudsontunnelproject.com/documents/Hudson%20Tunnel%20Project%20Scoping%20Document%204-27-16%20FINAL.PDF
http://tunnelbuilder.com/Archive/Projects.aspx?&projectcode=us%2f21
