New Jersey politicians yesterday unveiled new plans for building a train tunnel under the Hudson River — but this time with a higher price tag, less service and a later completion date than the proposal killed by Gov. Chris Christie.
The new proposal — pitched by US Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez — involves boring a tunnel for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains along the same route as the previous plan, starting in Secaucus.
But instead of ending the tunnel underground between Penn Station and Herald Square in Manhattan, the new plan would link directly south of Penn Station.
Still, while the shift to Penn Station might be more convenient for riders, there are drawbacks.
Linking south of Penn Station would mean fewer new tracks would be able to be built, so there would be fewer trains available.
Under the old plan, for example, 24 trains would have traveled back and forth during rush hours.
The new plan cuts that figure to 13 trains.
And officials say the new proposal will take two years longer to complete — while costing 40 percent more than the tunnel proposal nixed last year.
While still in the preliminary phase, the total cost of the new proposal — dubbed the “Gateway Project” — is expected to be $13.5 billion, with the work completed in 2020. That would make it the largest transportation project in the nation.
Under the old plan — called the “ARC Project” and derailed by Christie last year — costs were expected to run $9.7 billion.
Christie cited cost overruns as the reason he pulled the plug.
Amtrak — a new player in the mix — will front $50 million for a preliminary study of the new project, officials said.
As part of the project, Amtrak also is planning to replace the 100 year-old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River between Kearny and Secaucus.
Lautenberg and Menendez, both Democrats, touted the new plan as a better alternative than one floated by Mayor Bloomberg when the ARC tunnel was killed — extending the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to New Jersey.
Amtrak, which lost money on 41 of its 44 routes in 2009, will take the lead in finding ways to pay the entire cost, which will include funding from New Jersey, New York state, New York City, the Port Authority and the MTA, as well as private investors.
But it’s unclear how the money will be raised.
The MTA is already grappling with a $10 billion budget gap in its capital plan. And taxpayers spend a whopping $32 per passenger subsidizing the cost of the typical Amtrak rider.