Soon after we learn that the MTA won’t be able to fund many of its initiatives and the future of the Second Avenue subway and 7 line/LIRR west side extension perennially hang in the balance, a new project called Access to the Region’s Core looks to build two new rail links between Manhattan and New Jersey. Spearheaded by New Jersey Transit and the Port Authority, the project would construct a set of two tunnels that would link up Frank R. Lautenberg Station at Secaucus Junction to Penn Station.
The new tunnels from Jersey would enter Manhattan between 28th and 29th Streets and snake underneath 10th Avenue before splitting into upper and lower levels. The terminus at 34th Street would extend from 8th Avenue over to Sixth Avenue, with a Fifth Avenue extension for trains to park when not in use. Critics have bemoaned the fact that no plans have been made to extend the tunnels to Grand Central Terminal to alleviate the cross-town crush as commuters head from Penn Station over to the east side lines every morning.
Promoters say that the tunnels would double the number of rush hour trains that can travel between New York and New Jersey to 48 an hour.
If federal approval is given for the project and funding is secured, construction will begin in early 2009, take eight years to complete, and is expected (ha!) to cost $7.6 billion.
Times has a nice animated comparison of the construction methods used for the original PATH tunnels constructed in the 1900s and what would be used for this project.
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The drawing at the top of the page is wrong. The current version of the ARC station has 3 tracks over three tracks in the center of 34th St-nothing under private property.
Thanks for the catch and apologies for the old rendering, which has been replaced. The six-track scheme stays within the 34th Street right-of-way here.