Amtrak’s Hudson tunnel study to start in 2012

Amtrak announced Wednesday, January 11, it will spend USD 15M during 2012 for planning and other pre-construction activities for the Gateway Program, which includes a trans-Hudson tunnel from New Jersey to New York.

The overall scope of the project includes building two additional tunnels under the Hudson River to access expanded terminal facilities serving New York Penn Station and the future Moynihan Station on the site of the former Farley Post Office. It also will replace and expand the century old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River and increase from two to four the number of tracks between Newark and New York.

Specifically, the funding in 2012 will be used for planning, design and preliminary environmental review for project elements as well as to begin utility relocation for the Portal Bridge project, which is currently in the final design stage.

The announcement by Amtrak’s president and CEO, Joe Boardman, came as part of the rail company’s 2012 agenda, including “further integration and advancement” of Northeast Corridor planning efforts to improve the existing corridor and develop a high-capacity, next-generation high-speed rail system.

Amtrak also reported will it continue work on a USD 72M, multi-year project to replace track in all four of its East River tunnels that access New York’s Penn Station. The track structure for the full length of each tunnel will be replaced, including new ties, rail, and ballast plus other drainage improvements. The project is expected to be completed in mid-2015.