Hudson rail project to cost $23.9B, take 15 years to finish

A newly-released timeline and breakdown of costs show that the $23.9 billion Gateway program to double trans-Hudson rail capacity through the region will have two distinct phases.

The first phase will focus on maintaining capacity on the increasingly strained section of the Northeast Corridor line between Newark and Penn Station, N.Y., that carries more than 85,000 passengers every weekday.

Crucial to that first phase is the digging of two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River so that engineers can begin to renovate the existing tunnels. That work is scheduled to begin as soon as possible and to be completed over a decade. Officials have said that at some point over the next couple of decades, one of the existing tunnels will have to be closed for repair. If new tunnels are not built before then, service will be reduced from 24 trains an hour to 6.

The current 106-year-old tunnels were badly damaged by corrosive floodwaters from Superstorm Sandy. Since then, the tunnels have suffered an increasing number of electrical problems stranding NJ Transit and Amtrak customers for hours.

Another frequent cause of delays, the ageing Portal swing bridge over the Hackensack River at Kearny, is scheduled to be replaced by 2022.

The second phase of Gateway, which is scheduled to begin in the mid 2020s, will be aimed at doubling rail capacity.

A spokesman for Amtrak, which has been the lead agency on Gateway until recently, declined earlier this month to release a breakdown of costs as well as a timeline for the project.

The Port Authority will take over the lead on Gateway in the coming months by forming a development corporation that will be steered by federal and state officials. On Friday, a federal official released details of the Gateway program to The Record, emphasizing that those numbers are preliminary estimates. The $23.9 billion price tag includes a 10 percent contingency budget.

PHASE ONE

New trans-Hudson tunnel entrance below Hudson Yards in Manhattan.

ETA: Currently underway for completion in 2019.

Cost: $326 million

New rail tunnels and renovation of existing tunnels.

ETA: Start date unknown until engineering and financing plans are in place. But construction of the new tunnels and renovation of the existing tunnels is expected to take about 10 years.

Cost: $7.7 billion

Replacement of Portal swing bridge over Hackensack River with a new two-track high level bridge.

ETA: Beginning in 2017 for completion in 2022.

Cost: $1.2 billion.

Replacement of Sawtooth Bridge over the Passaic River.

ETA: Beginning in 2022 for completion in 2026. Cost $1.1 billion.

PHASE TWO

Beginning in 2024 for completion in 2030:

Expansion of Penn Station one city block south of the existing station, including new underground tracks and an above ground development.

Cost: $5.9 billion.

Building of new Portal Bridge South at Kearny.

Cost: $1.9 billion.

Renovation of Secaucus Junction station to handle doubling of rail capacity and a link to the Secaucus Loop.

Cost: $1.8 billion.

Construction of Secaucus Loop to enable a one-seat train ride from North Jersey into Manhattan.

Cost: $1.3 billion.

Replacement and renewal of two-track rail embankment between Newark and Secaucus and building of two additional lines running parallel to the embankment.

Cost: $268 million

Source: North Jersey.com