Can Amtrak & NJ Transit fill the big hole?

by: Rosi Efthim

Mon Nov 08, 2010 at 11:53:33 AM EST

The plan could recycle NJ Transit's design, developed over many years of planning, engineering and environmental work, as part of Amtrak's first phase of a national high speed network. NJ Transit's already spent $500-$600 million of state and federal money on tunnel design, planning and securing environmental permits, in addition to construction work on an overpass to take Routes 1 & 9 over the tunnel mouth in North Bergen.

This confirms for the first time that a second set of rail tubes to join the 100-year-old single-track tunnels built by Pennsylvania Railroad are in Amtrak's Northeast Corridor High Speed Rail Plan. But besides the costs associated with delay, it looks like Christie's decision will still cost New Jersey big. Assembly Transportation Chair John Wisniewski:

I encourage Amtrak and NJ Transit to continue their discussions, but the bottom line is Gov. Christie mismanaged this project so badly that we've apparently already lost the $3 billion in federal aid allocated for this project. That stunning lack of foresight on the governor's part will hurt our taxpayers and economy for years to come.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg is trying to negotiate a reduction in the amount NJ Transit will have to repay the federal government for $350 million in stimulus funds used toward the ARC Tunnel. Already gone is that $3 billion in Federal Transit Administration "new starts" money. Officials said that money cannot be used for a joint Amtrak-NJ Transit tunnel. NJ Transit spokesman Paul Wyckoff:

The new starts money can't be repurposed. That program is competitive, and projects are ranked. We can't roll it (over to another project) and the FTA can't. It is a statutory process.