advertisement

---

Yesterday, the Federal Transit Administration approved a $765 million Early Systems Work Agreement amendment toward the eventual $3 billion the administration has committed to the Access to the Region’s Core project, which will establish a rail line under the Hudson River.

The agreement includes $385 million in federal funds matched by $380 million in local funding.

The announcement reaffirms the administration’s intent to enter into a full funding grant agreement to provide $3 billion in discretionary FTA New Starts funds for the $8.7 billion project, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in a prepared statement.

The nine-mile commuter-rail extension will include two new tunnels under the Hudson River, new tracks between Secaucus Junction and New York’s Penn Station, and a new rail station underneath 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

The project will enable New Jersey Transit to double rail service capacity into Manhattan, free up capacity for Amtrak, and reduce travel times and crowding on trains and at Penn Station.