Editor’s note: The following editorial appeared in The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News. In an interview on NY1 on Friday afternoon, Cuomo followed up by saying that the cost of building a new tunnel is more than New York and New Jersey can bear without significant federal assistance.
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Christie has blamed Amtrak recently for delays on New Jersey Transit this summer, as rail traffic between New York and New Jersey has backed up. Commuters are already upset over a 9 percent NJ Transit fare increase scheduled for October, and the Transportation Trust Fund is patched together through borrowing and calling in loans.
What’s the fix? There isn’t a quick one, and there’s certainly not a cheap one.
The two existing 100-year-old tubes below the Hudson River, key to rail service from Washington to Boston, are at capacity.
Everyone seems to understand the need for the project and the urgency.
First on the list of topics to cover for the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee will be Amtrak’s stalled Gateway tunnel project, a proposed multibillion dollar effort to ease the region’s overreliance on two 105-year-old tunnels that Amtrak and New Jersey Transit now use to transport commuters under the Hudson River.
Authorities say a southern New Jersey man fatally shot in a soybean field by Pennsylvania police had stolen 81 handguns and a large amount of ammunition from a gun shop. “That can’t be overestimated”.
“While cynics (note: I’m a cynic) question motives here and wonder just how much hypocrisy we’ll have to endure in this presidential election, I’ll take what I can get”, Wytkind continued. His comments came after several days of long delays on trains in and out of Manhattan’s Penn Station because of equipment failures.
A healthy bi-state transit system is key to the region’s economy and both states’ tax base.
In addition to the Gateway project, the lawmakers also plan to look closer at the long-term plans for New Jersey Transit and the state’s broader transportation network.
Let’s hope this time, the federal and state partners can achieve a smart way to expand a burgeoning rapid transit route that serves the region.
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As he runs for president in 2016, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is being dogged by a decision early in his gubernatorial term to cancel construction of a rail tunnel between his state and New York City.
