Gateway Program (Northeast Corridor)

This article is about the planned Northeast Corridor rail project in New Jersey and New York. For the commercial complex, see Gateway Center (Newark). For the mixed-use building, see The Gateway (New Brunswick, New Jersey).

Gateway Program
Construction of a future Gateway Program tunnel portal at West Side Yard in Manhattan
Construction of a future Gateway Program tunnel portal at West Side Yard in Manhattan
Overview
StatusUnder Construction
OwnerAmtrak
Termini
  • Newark, New Jersey
  • New York City
Websitehttp://www.gatewayprogram.org/
Service
TypeRail capacity expansion
ServicesNortheast Corridor
Technical
CharacterUnderground, elevated
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Gateway Program is a ongoing expansion and renovation of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) rail line between Newark, New Jersey, and New York City along the right-of-way between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station. The project is intended to build new rail bridges in the New Jersey Meadowlands, dig a new set of tunnels under Bergen Hill (Hudson Palisades) and the Hudson River, rehabilitate the existing 1910 tunnel, and construct a new terminal annex. The improvements are designed to double train capacity and permit more high-speed rail service along the current right-of-way, whose two-track rail line, used both by Amtrak and NJ Transit Rail Operations (NJT), has reached its full capacity of 24 trains per hour.[1]

It was unveiled as the Gateway Project in 2011, one year after the cancellation of the somewhat similar Access to the Region's Core (ARC) project; the need for these renovations only increased after Hurricane Sandy had damaged the North River Tunnels the following year.[2][3][4] It took nearly a decade to line up both funding from federal agencies and the state governments involved, and to complete regulatory filings. In 2021, the project was formally approved by the federal government, and work officially began in 2023. The total cost was estimated (in August 2021) to be $16.1 billion. It is scheduled to reach completion by 2035.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference GPDC-Board-201701 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference APNews-Nightmare-2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Gurley, Gabrielle (January 22, 2018). "Gateway To Nowhere on the Hudson". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bazeley 2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).