New Jersey’s rail infrastructure needs some help. I say this with cautious optimism, but it looks like the powers that be may be realizing that too. In the coming weeks, the Federal Railroad Administration and New Jersey Transit will be holding two open house informational meetings on the proposed Hudson Tunnel Project.
The Hudson Tunnel Project plans to add two new tracks on the Northeast Corridor and new tunnels under the Palisades and beneath the Hudson River. This would also connect it to the preexisting tracks to Penn Station.
The project is intended to “preserve the current functionality of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service and New Jersey Transit’s commuter rail service between New Jersey and Penn Station by repairing the deteriorating existing Northeast Corridor rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River; and to strengthen the Northeast Corridor’s resiliency to support reliable service by providing redundant capacity under the Hudson River for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains between New Jersey and Penn Station,” according to the official website.
The first meeting will be held tonight, Thursday November 10th at Secaucus Junction train station in the upper-level hallway. The second will be held a week later on Thursday November 17th at the Hotel Pennsylvania Skytop Ballroom on 7th Ave in New York. Commuters will be able to ask questions to engineers and make suggestions.
Construction of the new tunnel is estimated to take seven years. After the new tunnel is complete, they will begin rehabilitating the existing Northeast Corridor rail tunnel, which will take another three years.
