Big Tunnels, Transit in the Works in New York

"Work is set to begin this spring on a $9 billion train tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan, the first new link between the two in more than a half-century.

The nearly 3.5-mile tunnel will more than double the number of commuter trains that can cross into New York City. Trains now use a 100-year-old two-track tunnel that is at capacity, meaning that trains sometimes must wait their turn to cross into the city.

The tunnel is one of several multibillion-dollar transit projects in New York City angling for an infusion of federal money, including a new subway line and rail tunnels to bring trains from Long Island to Grand Central Terminal.

'You'd have to go back to the 1920s to see a period of so much transit being built,' says Sam Schwartz, a New York transportation planner known as 'Gridlock Sam.'"