Amtrak Warns Eventual Shutdown of NJ-to-NYC Tunnels Will Be Needed
By Jim Melwert
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new report from Amtrak says needed repairs to rail tunnels between New Jersey and Manhattan would significantly affect travel in the northeast.
Amtrak says the tunnels under the Hudson River are safe for travel even though saltwater from Superstorm Sandy flooding continues to corrode concrete and steel in the tunnels.
A report released yesterday says they would need to close each tunnel for at least a year to make the repairs.
That would mean a 75-percent reduction in train service to and from New York, and that has the attention of Philadelphia-area residents who rely on trains for business in New York.
"It would be a huge inconvenience, obviously, yeah. I'd have to drive," mused one man.
But driving is already a problem for many.
"Yeah, I've tried that, and it takes three-plus hours with commuter traffic, so it's really not (an option)," noted a woman we spoke with.
Amtrak says they would have to wait until a new tunnel project, called "Gateway," is finished before they could close the tunnels. But they say completion of that would be the middle of the next decade, and it doesn't yet have the funding.
New Jersey Transit, which also relies on the Hudson River tunnels, says it's too early to know the impact on NJT customers.
