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Amtrak to spend $86 million on East River tunnels
I thought Amtrak was trying to AVOID using those funds on the threat of losing future federal capital funding altogether. Anyways, I’m happy about the work getting done.
And no way will there ever be a physical link between GCT and Penn. Unless it were from the LIRR level, the two third rail types are incompatible.
Gov. Christie was not correct. Not only overstating the cost to New Jersey, but overstating cost overruns. While conveniently steering 4 billion earmarked for the tunnel into the New Jersey transportation trust fund which at that time was near bankruptcy.
East River tunnels need updating. LIRR and Amtrak suffer several times a week but so does NJT when their equipment gets stuck at Sunnyside or waylayed by the other’s traffic being knotted. This is a step in the right direction for all in NYP.
The solution is quite simple. Daylight the tunnels and relocate the river. If Chicago was able to relocate and reverse the direction of its river, why can’t New York City? Which proves again that New York is inferior to Chicago in more ways than just pizza, hot dogs, and beef.
On the other hand, the entire city is pretty much falling apart. As Al Bundy would say, ‘It’s already broke. Why fix it?’ Of course I favor the Red Green method, which is to cover everything that is broke with duct tape. Lots of it. Spare the tape. Spoil the job. But the end result of that would be an entire city covered in duct tape. The people in charge of tape in Minnesota would be very happy producing more.
Then there are the social implications of New York City dwellers trying to become more like Newark. Which is the real reason why those tunnels are so important.
But you still have to question the intelligence of building tunnels below the normal water line without submarine hatches. Get real here. Even St Louis has things in place to keep Old Muddy on the Illinois side of the ditch during flood season. And its subway tunnel didn’t flood during the last high water season. Which means, when you stop and think about it, St Louis is superior to New York in more ways than just barbecue.
ARC was a bad plan because it was not integrated with Penn Station, but Gov. Christie didn’t cancel it because it was a bad plan but because he wanted to funds for the highway trust fund.
Although I visit New York City only occasionally, I usually travel there on Amtrak so I heartily approve this use of relief funds. Without Sunnyside Yard in Queens, Penn Station could hardly function, to say nothing of the East River Tunnels’ importance to the upper NEC and the LIRR.
It’s a start
Good news, and another photo-op for Sen. Schumer (D-NY). Now, let’s get serious about new tunnels under the Hudson. The old (100-year +) tunnels are a ‘disaster-waiting-to-happen’. With all the traffic, there is no way effective preventative maintenance can be performed on the old tunnels. Gov. Christie (R-NJ) was correct, in cancelling the ill-conceived ARC project. Time for him to offer a sane alternative, including connection to GCT.
Gov. Chris Cristie is misguided. He only sought to benefit the highway people and cares little about alternate modes of travel.
Why are you showing a picture in Wilmington Del. to illustrate an article of the East River Tunnels in New York?
To summerize Guse’s rant: he doesn’t like New York City and its people.
86 million dollars? Where is all this money coming from? I continue to see money for Amtrak usage coming from the government mostly for the NE corridor…why not use some of that money for the transportation of the influx of tourist in the south. We are still waiting for Amtrak service from New Orleans to Jacksonville to serve Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida…surely the governors would like the tourist dollars, too. I guess the Senators in the south don’t have as much clout as the north…that’s sad.
The tunnels are old, dark, narrow and scary, a tragedy waiting to happen. It is long past due that some remedial attention should be paid to them.
I was very dissapointed that Gov. Christies nixed the new tunnels proposed for the Hudson side. He got that one wrong.
And we wait in despair for the much delayed Amtrak station to be formed out of the old Post Office building behind the current Penn Station.
There are two large duct tape producers in the NY metro area: ‘Tuck’ and ‘Duck’. I hope the local senators get the word. BBQ in St. Louis? Are you kidding? Damming the Hudson at the GWB is a good idea, before it, too, falls down, ala the TZB. Create a causeway, with rail service. Flushing the Harlem and East rivers would be a good thing, with the Hudson’s waters. Maybe there is hope for the Gowanus Creek’s re-emergent oysters! As for the ARC boondoggle, no one wanted to end up in a dead-end tube, seven stories below street level, in Manhattan. That silly idea was DOA. Thanks, Chris!
Alex I can off are you aware that there exists the hardware and technology for electric trains that utilize 3rd rails to run on both types? Some of Amtrak’s dual mode locomotives have movable contact shoes to run on or under 3rd rail depending on territory.
Did you realize that all you people in the NEC communicate by capital letters? Some readers out in the boonies don’t know what the hell you’re saying. You speak in code.
I realize that this is just to repair the tunnels from the Hurricane damage, but Amtrak should seriously consider investing more money to increase tunnel clearance heights in the Northeast to allow for Bi-Level/Double Decker Trains for passenger capacity. Get the local governments to help finance these projects.
Once again Mr. Guse in his bla bla rhetoric conveniently forgets when an errant pile driver indirectly led to a breach in the tunnels under the Chicago River in 1992 and flooded half the ‘Loop’. This cost taxpayers millions of dollars to clean up and repair. Not to mention the lost productivity and profits of the many businesses that had to close for weeks. By the way, one of the reasons the flooding was so bad and took so long to repair was because old flood prevention doors that needed repairs were taken out of service rather than fixed. Oops!