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First Tunnel Boring Machine To Launch in Coming Days
First New Tunnel Underneath Hudson River Since the Holland Tunnel Was Opened in 1927;
Project Will Serve 200,000 Daily Riders Between New York and New Jersey
Governor Kathy Hochul today celebrated the start of tunnel boring for the Hudson Tunnel Project by the Gateway Development Commission (GDC).
Following the ceremonial launch, final testing will be completed and the first tunnel boring machine that will be used to build the new train tunnel under the Hudson River will begin digging the new connection between New Jersey and New York Penn Station.
A second machine will launch soon after. This historic moment marks the start of the first phase of tunnel boring for the Hudson Tunnel Project — the first new rail tunnel under the river in more than 100 years. It is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and nearly three years of construction work.
“Building a new rail connection across the Hudson River has been a dream for over a generation, one that would improve reliability and resilience for over 200,000 daily riders who power our economy,” Governor Hochul said. “We fought and beat efforts from the Trump administration to halt the Gateway project and today, that dream becomes a reality, with state of the art machinery operated by expert union workers starting their journey through soil and bedrock under the Hudson to Penn Station. This is a historic day for New York and a clear demonstration of our ambitions to once again be a state that dreams and builds big.”
The two tunnel boring machines launching this fall will bore approximately one mile through the hard rock under the Palisades Cliffs in New Jersey to the Hudson County Access Shaft in Weehawken. These two machines will be removed via the access shaft and replaced with a second pair of machines that will build the section of the tunnel under the Hudson River.
The two hard-rock tunnel boring machines are expected to build roughly 30 feet of tunnel per day, including scheduled pauses for maintenance. They will reach the Hudson County Access Shaft approximately one year after launching.
The first phase of tunnel boring is being completed by Schiavone Dragados Lane JV as part of the contract for the Palisades Tunnel Project construction package. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is managing delivery of this construction package in partnership with GDC.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill said, “I spent years in Congress fighting for the Hudson Tunnel Project because it is the most important infrastructure project in the country. Now, tunnel boring is beginning on the first new rail tunnel under the Hudson in more than a century. I was proud to be called the ‘tunnel-obsessed Congresswoman,’ and as Governor, I will keep fighting until this tunnel is built, so 100,000 jobs will be delivered, and millions of New Jersey commuters and travelers finally have the reliable service they deserve.”
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said, “From Day One on Gateway, I have said: If we dig it, they will come. ‘They’ being millions of passengers, and freight, and goods and services, flowing into and out of the heart of the New York-New Jersey region and pumping the veins of every nook and cranny with billions of dollars in economic energy. Who says infrastructure is boring? This astounding machine will carve the first new rail tunnel under the Hudson in more than a century, keeping tens of thousands of union workers on the job and creating a vitally needed crossing that hundreds of thousands of commuters depend on every single day. The Gateway Hudson tunnel is the most important infrastructure project in America, period, and I will keep fighting until the job is done.”
U.S. Senator Cory Booker said, “This milestone is a major step toward fulfilling the Hudson Tunnel Project’s two-track tunnel and giving New Jerseyans the dependable rail infrastructure they’ve waited decades for. Millions of people depend on the Northeast Corridor every day to get to work, to school, and back home to their families. I’m proud to help deliver a project that will lower costs, strengthen our rail system, boost reliability, double capacity, and make commutes better for generations of New Jerseyans to come.”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said, “Building a stronger New York means strengthening our transit and infrastructure systems. Working families and commuters have been waiting for over a decade for us to deliver on our promise of creating more efficient transportation, and this phase marks more than a vow to start — it marks a vow to finish. I will continue fighting for funding towards landmark projects like the Hudson Tunnel to keep riders on track.”
