Christie's office dismissed the report, Amtrak said talks were only 'exploratory'
Construction workers build a support to Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen in September, a preliminary step in constructing the Hudson River rail tunnel that Gov. Chris Christie called off for a second time last month.Anyone holding their breath for another rail tunnel under the Hudson River better be prepared not to exhale for 20 years.
That was the sobering dose of reality from transportation advocates and government officials today after a published report that Amtrak and NJ Transit were looking to team up to build another commuter rail tunnel from New Jersey to midtown Manhattan.
A second two-track tunnel would complement the existing century-old two-track tunnel that serves America’s busiest rail corridor. But Gov. Chris Christie’s office promptly doused the report, Amtrak said the talks were only "exploratory" and Zoe Baldwin, the New Jersey advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign transportation advocacy group, said such a tunnel would take nearly a generation to build.
Transportation advocates are still stinging from Christie’s decision last month to terminate the planned Access to the Region’s Core tunnel from Secaucus to West 34th Street in Manhattan, which was in the early stages of construction and was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
TIME FRAME EXPLAINED
Citing potential cost overruns of up to $5 billion, Christie pulled the plug on the 9-mile tunnel.
Baldwin said by the time funding is in place and environmental studies and design work are completed for an Amtrak tunnel, it will probably be a decade before a shovel is in the ground. After that, it would be nearly another decade before the tunnel is completed.
By killing the ARC tunnel, which was to cost at least $9.78 billion, New Jersey forfeited at least $3 billion in federal money for the project and possibly another $3 billion or more in Port Authority of New York and New Jersey money, although the state considers it money that should go to the New Jersey side of the Hudson. And today, the federal government sent a letter formally requesting that the state repay the $271 million in federal money it spent on the tunnel.
"We do have a serious need for expanded transit into Manhattan, but riders shouldn’t hold their breath for this tunnel," Baldwin said. "We went off track when we canceled ARC."
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said today there is no revival of tunnel plans.
"To repeat yet again, the ARC tunnel project is over," Drewniak said. "While no new conversations have taken place between Amtrak and NJ Transit, the governor previously tasked both (Department of Transportation) commissioner James Simpson and NJ Transit executive director James Weinstein to work with the pertinent partners to explore fiscally viable alternatives for a trans-Hudson tunnel. As such, we will continue to explore solutions to the trans-Hudson transportation challenge."
2040 TARGET
Amtrak spokesman Cliff Cole said that because rail capacity has reached its optimal level and demand will continue to grow, Amtrak would like to have two additional tunnels for access into New York Penn Station by 2030.
But, he said, the funding is not in place.
"Amtrak has begun exploratory talks with NJ Transit to see if we can come to any agreement on common projects that would benefit each organization," Cole said.
Amtrak wants to bring high-speed rail to the Northeast Corridor Line, which in New Jersey runs from Trenton to under the Hudson River, by 2040.
"We’re looking into whether work that has already been done (on the ARC tunnel) could be beneficial to Amtrak’s high-speed rail initiative and NJ Transit’s quest to improve service," Cole said.