The president has canceled an agreement to help fund Amtrak’s Gateway Tunnel.
Instead, New Jersey and New York should construct a tunnel connecting Hoboken
to Penn Station and then run commuter trains from Long Island to run through Penn
Station to New Jersey, at a cost far below the Gateway.
Today, two tracks run under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.
Completed in 1910, these tunnels need major rehabilitation work, a need exacerbated
by flooding from Hurricane Sandy. Over the past 5 years, the tunnels’ owner
Amtrak has warned they would need to shutdown one tunnel with the next 10-20
years for that work. That shutdown would reduce the number of trains per hour
into Penn Station from New Jersey from 24 to 6 because one tunnel would have to
operate in both directions. Officials in both New York and New Jersey finally awoke
to this reality and recently agreed to split construction costs on Amtrak’s
proposed replacement, the Gateway Project. However, the president canceled the federal
government’s participation. New Jersey had begun construction on the Access to
the Region’s Core (ARC Tunnel) in 2009 which would have allowed New Jersey
Transit (NJT) trains to dead-end in Manhattan but that state’s governor
canceled the project under false pretenses.
Sink a one mile long immersed tube tunnel into the Hudson River mud
from Long Slip Canal south of Hoboken Terminal to 10th Ave in
Manhattan. Dig a cut/cover tunnel under 10th Ave from the NYFD fireboat
dock to W 27th St. This 10th Ave tunnel could include space
for a future L or 7 train extension. The Hoboken Tunnel would connect to Penn
Station at 31 St and Ninth Ave and would allow commuter trains from New Jersey
Transit (NJT) to run through Penn Station to Long Island Railroad (LIRR) without
constructing a new station. A new concourse south of Hoboken Station would be
built in the Hudson River and Long Slip Canal on top of the PATH tunnel. This
concourse would allow passengers to transfer to PATH for Lower Manhattan, negating
a need to serve the Secaucus transfer. Detailed Google Map.
Differences between Gateway and Hoboken Tunnels
The Gateway project is expensive because it requires additional features
such as a new Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River, two new approach tracks,
a 2.5 mile bored tunnel under Bergen Hill and then the Hudson River, and in
some plans, a new concourse and platforms south of Penn Station (Penn South). In
contrast, the Hoboken Tunnel uses an existing bridge over the Hackensack River and
approach tracks and only requires 1 mile immersed tube tunnel. Instead of an expensive
Penn South concourse, LIRR and NJT trains would simply run through and not
require any additional track capacity. While the Hoboken Tunnel requires a new
tunnel under 10 Ave, it could also include space for a future L or 7 subway
extension. Alternatively,
the immersed tube tunnel could follow the waterfront and turn into Manhattan at
Hudson Yards. Unlike the Gateway Tunnel, a new concourse south of Hoboken would
allow passengers to transfer to PATH trains for Lower Manhattan, increasing ridership
through increased convenience while diverting some subway trips from Penn
Station to lower Manhattan.
Through running
NJT uses overhead catenary while LIRR uses third rail for electricity. Luckily,
both LIRR and NJT plan to replace several hundred M7 and Arrow III electric multiple
units (EMUs) in the new few years anyways. A new EMU could run on both electrical
systems similar to the Metro North M8 railcar. A multilevel car would add capacity
over existing single level cars. In the interim, NJT’s dual mode locomotive-pulled
trains could run on diesel power on Long Island. Map
In terms of schedules, LIRR runs 43 trains per peak hour into Penn while
NJT runs 22 into Penn and 19 into Hoboken. All of the Hoboken trains would continue
to Penn and 2 additional trains could be added to other lines such as the
Northeast Corridor. New EMU cars would be capable of operating on both catenary
and 3rd rail while some additional ALP-45DP dual mode locomotives would
replace LIRR’s aging diesel fleet, standardize around one locomotive type, and
allow trains from the Northeast Corridor to run through to the Montauk Line and
other areas. Through running would also dramatically reduce travel times
between Long Island and New Jersey, reducing commute times for thousands and
increasing ridership.
The largest obstacle to through running is cultural, meaning that LIRR
and NJT officials would have to find a way to at the very least, operationally
merge and allocate operating costs. New York and Connecticut jointly run Metro
North in this manner but even getting LIRR and Metro North to cooperate, both owned
mostly by the same state agency, proved too difficult on the East Side Access
project.
Bottom line
The Gateway project is an expensive boondoggle which would provide
comparatively modest transportation benefits. A Hoboken Tunnel would be cheaper
by half and provide far greater benefits to commuters in two states. In light
of the federal government’s non-participation, New Jersey and New York could
fund the Hoboken Tunnel themselves at less cost than their shares of the Gateway
project. Seize this opportunity!
