114-Year-Old Railway Tunnel Set To Get $11 Billion Makeover

The U.S. government has allocated billions to revamp a century-old railway tunnel, and is constructing a new tunnel to service one of the most important rail routes on the East Coast.

According to the statement on the Department of Transportation website, the Hudson Tunnel Project will “construct a critical new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey along a vital economic corridor.”

On July 8, the DOT signed a funding agreement for the project, allowing the Federal Transit Administration to invest around $6.9 billion in constructing the new two-track rail tunnel connecting the Bergen County Palisades in New Jersey to Manhattan, and to rehabilitate the 114-year old North River Tunnel.

A further $4.1 billion was approved by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to support the rehabilitation efforts.

“Hundreds of thousands of commuters travel through the 114-year-old passenger rail tunnel daily,” the DOT said, “underscoring the need to replace and modernize this vital corridor damaged during 2012’s Superstorm Sandy.”

Hurricane Sandy hit the Caribbean and the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. in October 2012, causing particular damage across New Jersey and New York.

According to the Mayor’s Office, the storm led to around $19 billion in losses for New York City, while the National Centers for Environmental Information reported $29.4 billion in damage across the state of New Jersey.

Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger railroad company which owns the North River Tunnel, said that the passage was “inundated with millions of gallons of salt water,” leaving behind corrosive chemicals which have since degraded its concrete lining.

According to the DOT, a new rail route between New York and New Jersey is necessary to mitigate a “bottleneck” at the North River Tunnel.

“Without building a second tunnel to keep full service running during repairs, operations would be sharply reduced and would cost more than $100 million a day due to the region’s 20 percent contribution to the national economy,” the DOT said, adding that this economic impact would “reverberate throughout the U.S.”

The agency estimates that work on both the new and old tunnels will be finished by 2038 and, once complete, will “enhance service, improve reliability, modernize design, and mitigate the impact of future natural disasters, ensuring a seamless rail network.”

An April report from the Regional Plan Association found that the project will generate 95,000 jobs, and “incrementally generate $19.6 billion in economic activity.”

Funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project, which the DOT touted as “the nation’s most complex infrastructure project,” will be sourced from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, approved by both houses in November 2021, and the $66 billion it freed up for passenger rail projects.

“For decades, Americans watched one of the most heavily-used train tunnels in the hemisphere deteriorate and become a bottleneck that affected travelers from New England to the Mid-Atlantic and beyond,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “Today, President Biden is making good on his promise to fix that and build the Hudson Tunnel Project.”

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