NY and New Jersey create corporation to oversee New Hudson Rail Tunnel

Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest news and business opportunities in your inbox
NY and New Jersey create corporation to oversee New Hudson Rail Tunnel

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has created the Gateway Development Corporation to oversee the development of two rail tunnels under the Hudston River linking New York and New Jersey in the United States.

The corporation, which will own the new tunnels, will be controlled by a board composed of four members with representatives from New York, New Jersey, Amtrak and the federal Transportation Department.

The other existing tunnels are owned and operated by Amtrak, a partially government-funded American passenger railroad service. According to Amtrak there are roughly 200,000 daily riders. The firm can squeeze 24 trains an hour through the two tracks of the tunnels but the century-old rail tunnels are deteriorating and needs repairs because of damage by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. When one of the tracks has to close for repairs, the capacity of the infrastructure drops to six trains per hour. The infrastructure is so busy that the operator has to do maintenance work at night, when one track is closed.

The project is expected to solve the rail disruptions caused by deterioration of the existing infrastructure, which is part of the Northeast corridor. The corridor, stretching from Washington, D.C. to Boston, is located where 20 percent of the nation's gross domestic product is produced.

The total project project investment is estimated at as much as US$20 billion and is expected to be part of the US$20 billion to US$25 billion Gateway Program. The project could also be financed by the federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing Program, which has US$35 billion to develop rail projects. It is envisaged, however, that private funding will be necessary to develop the project.

Share this news

Join us

In order to get full access to News section, you must have a full subscription. You can check all the benefits of becoming a member and purchase a subscription on our membership page.