Hudson Tunnel Project, New Jersey and New York

Environmental Impact Statement

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and NJ TRANSIT are preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to evaluate the Hudson Tunnel Project (the “Project”). The EIS is being prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), and FRA is the lead federal agency providing oversight and responsibility for the final decision on project implementation.  The preparation of the EIS is being managed by NJ TRANSIT as a joint lead agency. Construction of the Project is expected to involve the use of federal funding administered through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Project is intended to preserve the current functionality of the Northeast Corridor’s (NEC) Hudson River rail crossing between New Jersey and New York and strengthen the resilience of the NEC. The Project would consist of construction of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, including railroad infrastructure in New Jersey and New York connecting the new rail tunnel to the existing NEC, and rehabilitation of the existing NEC tunnel beneath the Hudson River.

The existing NEC rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River is known as the North River Tunnel. This tunnel is used by Amtrak for intercity passenger rail service and by NJ TRANSIT for commuter rail service.  The tunnel has two separate tubes, each accommodating a single track for electrically powered trains, and extends approximately 2.5 miles from the tunnel portal in North Bergen, NJ, to Penn Station New York.

Superstorm Sandy in October 2012 damaged the North River Tunnel and today the tunnel remains compromised. The North River Tunnel is currently safe for use by Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains traveling between New Jersey and New York City and beyond. However, it is in poor condition as a result of the storm damage and has required emergency maintenance that disrupts service for hundreds of thousands of rail passengers throughout the region. Despite the ongoing maintenance, the damage caused by the storm continues to degrade systems in the tunnel and can only be addressed through a comprehensive reconstruction of the tunnel.

The Project would rehabilitate the North River Tunnel without disrupting existing levels of train service, and provide redundant capacity for rail service crossing the Hudson River. To perform the needed rehabilitation in the existing North River Tunnel, each tube of the tunnel will need to be closed for more than a year. However, rehabilitation needs to be accomplished without unacceptable reductions in weekday service. Therefore, the Project would first include construction of two new rail tubes beneath the Hudson River (the “Hudson Tunnel”) that can maintain the existing level of train service while the damaged tubes in the North River Tunnel are taken out of service one at a time for rehabilitation. Once the North River Tunnel rehabilitation is complete, both the old and new tunnel will be in service, providing redundant capacity and increased operational flexibility for Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT.

Next Steps

Using comments and information received during the scoping process, preliminary action alternative alignments will be developed and evaluated against engineering, environmental, and other criteria in order to determine the final alternatives to be evaluated in detail in the Draft EIS.  The Draft EIS will also include evaluation of a No Action Alternative.

The FRA will concurrently be working with NJ TRANSIT and with cooperating and participating agencies in the project to develop impact assessment methodologies and other technical and analytical reports. Additionally, FRA will be consulting with stakeholders in the process to comply with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act in order to evaluate effects on historic and cultural resources.

All results from the agency coordination and technical analyses will be documented and presented in the Draft EIS, to be released in the summer of 2017.  Following a comment period and public hearings, the FRA will prepare a Final EIS and Record of Decision.

More Information

The Notice of Intent  announcing the preparation of an EIS for this project as well as the initiation of scoping was published in the Federal Register on May 2, 2016.  A scoping document was made available online and in repositories within the study area.

NJ TRANSIT has information about the project, scoping period, and other project documents on their project website www.hudsontunnelproject.com.