Nation's Largest Mass Transit Project is under Way
The second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River will link New Jersey with New York and will also double the capacity on the nation's busiest rail corridor.
"The largest mass transit project in the country got under way Monday with the help of federal stimulus dollars, as public officials broke ground on a second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.
Officials participated in the groundbreaking for the $8.7 billion project as commuter trains passed behind them in North Bergen, New Jersey, before entering the existing train tunnel, which went into operation in 1908.
It is the largest commitment to any transportation project anywhere in the United States in the history of the Department of Transportation, according to administrator Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transportation Administration.
The project -- known as ARC, for Access to the Region's Core -- is expected to create 6,000 design and construction jobs."
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Work begins on nation's largest mass transit project
The second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River that will link New Jersey with New York will NOT double the capacity on the nation's busiest rail corridor. The currently planned project may double New Jersey Transit's trans-Hudson capacity, but it will have nearly zero affect on Washington-Boston rail passenger service because the new tunnel will not connect to existing Penn Station tracks and platforms. NJT's tunnel will only serve its all-new deep cavern commuter rail station, which will not be under Penn Station but north of and below it.
As a result, intercity rail passenger service will remain solely dependent upon the 1908 tunnels built by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
This project, as now planned is an idiotic waste of taxpayer and passenger money, selfishly limited to benefit only NJT. Rather than pledge millions of federal tax dollars to support this boondoggle, the Obama administration should have ordered it stopped until it is redesigned to serve its original purpose -- expanding trans-Hudson rail capacity for all area passenger services and facilitating through-running of commuter trains between New Jersey and Long Island Railroad and Metro-North services. Anything less is a criminal waste of OUR money.
J. H. Harding