A Better Gateway

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 10^th Ave in Manhattan. Dig a cut/cover tunnel under 10^th Ave from the NYFD fireboat dock to W 27^th St. This 10^th 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 3^rd 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!