Excavation for new Hudson rail tunnels to start this week

Excavation for new Hudson River rail tunnels that could ease congestion at Penn Station is set to begin this week, officials said.

Elected officials from New York and New Jersey gathered in North Bergen Monday for the formal launch of a tunnel boring machine that will dig out the first mile of the new tunnel. After initial testing, the first machine will begin cutting through the hard rock of New Jersey's Palisades cliffs, soon followed by a second machine. Each can excavate about 30 feet a day, officials said.

The $16 billion Gateway megaproject, which is being funded through a combination of New York, New Jersey and federal dollars, aims to double rail capacity between New York and New Jersey.

The new two-tube rail tunnel will be primarily used by Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, but could also benefit Long Island Rail Road commuters by alleviating congestion at Penn Station caused by issues in the two existing North River Tunnels, which were badly damaged by Superstorm Sandy 14 years ago.

"We know how difficult it is — the bottleneck that occurs when one train is late," Gov. Kathy Hochul said at the ceremony. "Many believed this day would never come ... This was a fight."

Gateway has been besieged by delays since Amtrak proposed it in 2011, including after the Trump administration tried to kill the project by freezing federal funding for it a year ago. In February, Trump called the effort a "boondoggle" that could be "financially catastrophic for the region."

New York and New Jersey successfully sued the Trump administration earlier this year to unblock the federal funds. Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation did not respond to requests for comment Monday on the tunnel excavation work commending.

The new tunnel is the centerpiece of a broader set of improvements planned as part of Gateway between New York City and Newark along the Northeast Corridor — the busiest stretch of railroad tracks in the U.S., moving 2,000 trains and 800,000 passengers daily, according to project officials.

"We need this tunnel," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said at the ceremony. "The whole national economy could collapse if this tunnel weren't built,"

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.