Gateway Development Commission

GDC Notes Progress on Hudson Tunnel Project

The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) on May 5 reported “significant progress and early work beginning in 2023” on the Hudson Tunnel Project, the largest component of the Gateway Program. The GDC Board

Amtrak, in conjunction with the Washington State DOT, Oregon DOT, VIA Rail Canada and other federal agencies, will restart service to Vancouver via Cascades on Sept. 26. (Photograph Courtesy of Amtrak)

Transit Briefs: Amtrak, CTA, Gateway, LACMTA, SFMTA/Muni, SMART, VIA Rail

Amtrak Cascades service to Vancouver, B.C., is resuming this month. Also, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released a combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Record of Decision (ROD) for Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Red Line Extension Project; the Gateway rail tunnel project price tag has risen to $16.1 billion, with a new construction start-date of 2024; Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) has expanded its student fareless pass program; San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has launched the MuniSafe campaign; Northern California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) marked its fifth anniversary last month; and VIA Rail Canada has released its second-quarter 2022 report.

The Gateway Program will eventually double rail capacity between Newark, N.J., and New York. (GDC)

Kolluri Nominated to Lead Gateway Development Commission

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on May 6 nominated Kris Kolluri to serve as CEO of the Gateway Development Commission, a partnership between the two states and Amtrak that is working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and New Jersey Transit (NJT) to coordinate delivery of the Gateway Program, which will eventually double rail capacity between Newark, N.J., and New York.

Portal North—part of the massive Gateway Program, which will eventually double rail capacity between Newark, N.J., and New York—will replace the 110-year-old Portal Bridge, a mechanical-trouble-plagued swing bridge built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1910 as part of its New York Improvements project.
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Portal North Builder Gets Official ‘Go’ From NJT

New Jersey Transit has issued a “Notice to Proceed” to Skanska/Traylor Bros PNB Joint Venture (STJV) for construction of Portal North Bridge, which is slated to take approximately five and a half years to complete.

For Hudson Tunnel Project, Updated Financial Plan

A new financial plan has been submitted to the Federal Transit Administration to support the Hudson Tunnel Project’s inclusion in the CIG (Capital Investments Grant) Program; the project is one segment of the Gateway Program on the Northeast Corridor.