(The following article by Raju Chebium was circulated by Gannett News service on July 23.)
WASHINGTON — A second rail tunnel under the Hudson River would let NJ Transit double the number of commuter trains it runs daily into New York and would add tens of thousands of jobs to the region’s economy, according to New Jersey officials who are euphoric that the Bush administration has approved the first phase of the $7 billion project.
But a commuter group that supports the new, two-track tunnel says the project will waste $1.6 billion — and endanger lives in case of terrorist attack — by building an unnecessary station deep under Manhattan.
NJ Transit is spearheading the effort to build the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel. The Federal Transit Administration told Congress on Wednesday it’s approving preliminary engineering for the project, which would take 10 years to complete.
The New Jersey Association of Rail Passengers wants to make sure commuters’ concerns aren’t forgotten.
For instance, said Albert Papp Jr., a director of the rail passengers association, New Jersey officials must secure written commitments from Amtrak to make critical improvements commuters have long advocated, such as refurbishing the aging Hackensack River Bridge and adding more tracks between Secaucus Junction and Newark.
Other rail projects, such as the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex, or MOM, line that has been discussed for 20 years, have been pushed farther down the priority list, Papp said.
One million people are expected to move west of the Hudson River over the next 20 years. Many of them will commute to New York for work. Roads are already congested, and there’s little room in the densely populated region to build more major highways and bridges.
“We can’t build our way out of this from a highway perspective,” state Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri said in a telephone interview. “We have to have the ability to move people around.”
Every weekday, 450 Amtrak and NJ Transit trains travel through the lone tunnel now in operation. But the 100-year-old tunnel, which is at maximum capacity, has become a major choke point in the Northeast rail network.
Here’s one way the tunnel would provide commuters more choices: During the 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. weekday rush hour, NJ Transit runs 46 trains. With the new tunnel, it could run 96 trains, NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel said.
The project calls for routing trains through the Secaucus Junction station named for Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., to a new station to be built 150 feet below 34th Street in New York. Passenger concourses linking the new station to the New York Subway and PATH trains are also envisioned.
Engineering studies could begin as early as next month once NJ Transit awards the first in a string of contracts. Construction isn’t expected to begin until 2009; state officials expect the project to generate some 40,000 construction jobs by the time it’s completed seven years later.
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee added $8.4 million for the project in legislation setting next year’s spending levels for the Department of Transportation. The federal government is expected to contribute at least half the $7 billion price tag. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is expected to kick in $2 billion. The rest would come from the state. Gov. Corzine has committed $500 million so far.
Commuters welcome the new tunnel, but question the wisdom of building a new station below sea level when it would be safer and cheaper if the new tunnel were to terminate at Penn Station like the existing one, said Papp of the rail passenger group.
“If there is an accident or there is a terrorist bomb or whatever, the tunnel will be flooded. And the 34th Street (station) will be flooded,” he said. “What we are questioning and will continue to question . . . is the need for the deep-level station under 34th Street. . . . We support the tunnel, and we support the two additional tracks under the Hudson River.”
Earlier this month, U.S. and Lebanese authorities said they foiled a potential attack on the existing tunnel after getting word of preliminary plans.
Kolluri said making the tunnel strong enough to withstand potential terrorism is a top priority, adding that state officials proposed a new station based on “professional judgment and engineering standards.”
In an era of high gasoline prices and clogged highways, the new tunnel could spark a nationwide re-commitment to mass transit as politicians begin to realize that mass transit also needs long-term investments, said Jim RePass, president of The National Corridors Initiative Inc. The Boston-based group is organizing a meeting of top officials to plot rail’s future from Washington to Boston.
“Have we begun to reach a turning point where a broad base of people and political parties (feel) that a transportation policy relying solely on highways has reached the end of the line?” RePass said. “What’s coming to be understood is we can’t simply add another highway lane.”