New York Construction Report staff writer
A $292 million federal grant has been announced for construction work on the Manhattan side of the Hudson River rail tunnels to link Penn Station to New Jersey, Senator Chuck Schumer said this week.
The grant will pay about half the cost of the $600 million cost to build a concrete casing of a box tunnel that will carry trains beneath Hudson Yards.
“This $292-million federal grant for Gateway is the largest award from the USDOT’s Mega grant program,” Schumer wrote on Twitter. “I pushed for this award, and this program is made possible by the infrastructure bill we delivered.
“It will energize the vital Gateway Tunnel project Schumer said the money “will energize the vital Gateway Tunnel project. This massive amount of funds will mean construction on a critical element of the project can begin in 2023.”
The Hudson Tunnel project is expected to create over 72,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs over the construction period. has There are three major components:
New, Two-Track Hudson River Tunnel: A new, two-track Hudson River rail tunnel will be constructed between the Bergen Palisades in New Jersey to Manhattan.
Hudson Yards Concrete Casing, Section 3: A third and final rail right-of-way preservation section will be built underneath Hudson Yards in New York. This will eventually allow trains to travel between the new Hudson River Tunnel and the existing Penn Station New York.
North River Tunnel Rehabilitation: The existing tunnel beneath the Hudson River, which has suboptimal service reliability its and antiquated design, and was severely damaged during Superstorm Sandy, will be rehabilitated. This section of the NEC handles approximately 450 trains per day and over 200,000 daily Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT passenger trips, and directly serves PSNY – the busiest rail station in America.
“Despite needless political delay because of the former president, the Gateway project — which our economy depends upon — is now advancing and seeing the federal dollars that fuel major construction,” Schumer said.
The $292 million allocated to the box tunnel is the largest award to date from a federal Department of Transportation grant program included in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The Gateway Program is one of a number of projects aimed at modernizing Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which connects New York to Boston and Washington.
