Amtrak is another matter entirely, not exactly germane to this particular discussion. They inherited the northeast corridor lines from Boston to Washington, along with from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, as part of the deal that created Conrail.
What’s happened since then, IMO, is that Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania view that line as their 1:1 scale electric train set, and have put into place massive state-level bureaucracies to run it. Yes, Amtrak runs trains. But the outfits like NJ Transit, New York’s MTA, and SEPTA have added more trains into Penn Station than PRR ever ran.
That being said: the Hudson River railroad tunnel to Penn Station really is in dire need of fixing. It’s only been around 100 years since its construction. Even concrete needs maintenance.
Built that is with private funding! The Pennsylvania RR built the Hudson River Tunnels for about $3 billion (in today’s dollars). Not only that, they built it, and paid off the debt. Quite a novel idea for today!
But I think an earlier poster hit the nail right on the head. Mr. Trump says, “You wanna tunnel? Vote for my border wall. Have a nice day!”
The Examiner reporter missed the most important point. Crain’s says the proposal was for the Feds to supply 50%, NY and NJ the balance through loans from the Feds (to be repaid never?) The administration says it is still willing to go along if the States fund their portions internally. In other words, States want Feds to supply 100% No.
“Built that is with private funding! The Pennsylvania RR built the Hudson River Tunnels for about $3 billion (in today’s dollars). Not only that, they built it, and paid off the debt. Quite a novel idea for today!”
I don’t understand why a two track tunnel and a refurbishment of the existing tunnel would cost twice what the original tunnel cost and NY/NJ would need the government to cover 50% of the cost. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
Even the dim-witted New York Times pointed out how tunnel costs in NYC are more than double what agencies across the world pay, even when you factor in healthcare and other non-construction costs that are tied to the project. The Port Authority, NJ Transit, and NY MTA are simply poor managers of projects and there is no economic incentive for them to control costs. With all three agencies having a (financial) stake in the Gateway project (and the Port Authority isn’t running trains in Penn Station, yet Amtrak is), there is so much bloat that any achievement is regarded as a miracle.
They’re nearly 8 years late on connecting the LIRR to Grand Central, well, over budget, and the actual tunnel that goes under the East River was completed over 30 years ago. If they continue to use the tax payers as a piggy bank with no accountability for their spending, then they will only finish projects when there is political will for them wasting too much money.
Trump is right to tie their obvious waste to a project that the country actually needs.
If Amtrak and the NY/NJ commuter system need repairs raise the ticket prices and pay for it. Pretty simple if you ask me.