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New Hudson River rail tunnels needed so old tunnels can be repaired


realizm

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Amtrak's 104-year old Hudson River tunnels are running on borrowed time and need to be shut down for a year each to repair the damage received from Hurricane Sandy flooding, according to transit officials.

To avoid any commuting nightmares during these major repairs, Amtrak officials say two new "Gateway" tunnels must be built.

Both Hudson River tunnels and two tunnels under the East River sustained enormous amounts of damage, from Sandy driven flooding, which would require substantial repairs to concrete bench walls, track and other infrastructure, Anthony Coscia, chairman of Amtrak's board of directors said during a discussion of a consultant's report about tunnel conditions on Wednesday.

The report is the first detailed look at the extent of damage to the Hudson and East river tunnels.

"The shell of the tunnel...is in sound, safe condition. We wouldn't run a single train if the tunnels weren't safe," Coscia said. "It is time to advance the (Gateway Tunnel) program now. There is no comfort zone to say we don't need to be worried."

Corrosion from the sulfates and chloride left behind, after sea water was pumped out, is deteriorating concrete bench walls along side the tracks, the electrical wiring inside them and the tracks themselves, said Stephen Gardner, vice president of Northeast Corridor Infrastructure and Investment Development.

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I suppose Amtrak can run in two sections like MTA did for Q. Bus them to Newark Penn to connect to Acela DC bound. And vice versa for Boston bound.

Amtrak doesn't run that many trains per hour maybe 3 or 4 through the north river tunnels. Even with one tube shut down, Amtrak would run fine. It's NJT that would suffer the most. Amtrak could in theory lengthen all their trains except for the acela to help with increased load and any decreased frequency. NJT is running at capacity pretty much at every rush hour with few spare locos or coaches. NJT also runs the majority of trains through the north river tunnels. NJT would have to be busing people in rather than Amtrak.

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Yeah I think what BM5 said definitely makes alot of sense too, even as it will never come close to the full traveling capacity of brand new tunnels if at all for through service to Manhattan. Nethertheless definitely looking into.

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Yeah I think what BM5 said definitely makes alot of sense too, even as it will never come close to the full traveling capacity of brand new tunnels if at all for through service to Manhattan. Nethertheless definitely looking into.

Suddenly that Pulaski Skyway can't get done soon enough....

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Suddenly that Pulaski Skyway can't get done soon enough....

 

Yes I read that to bring the highway up to current standards it will take them ten years at a price tag of $1.2 billion dollars according to the NJDOT. Yep Christie screwed that up too stealing funds that were supposed to go into that project. It amazes me that this guy is even in office to begin with!

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Why not have all NJT train end at Hoboken, and have PATH cross honor tickets.

In addition, run an extra ferry,and more ny waterway buses if needed.

Can't be done considering that's a hell of a lot of trains. You'd have to have trains terminating at Newark & Secaucus too at that.

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