UTU News Digest - Thursday, December 3, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Thursday, December 3, 1998

$5 billion railroad tunnel planned under Hudson River

NEW YORK -- A colossal $5 billion commuter railroad tunnel to link New Jersey and Penn Station will be carved out under the Hudson River if transit planners get their way giving thousands of riders a hassle-free commute.

Plans for the 5-mile link from Secaucus in the Meadowlands to Manhattan's West Side quietly are being drafted by the region's three megatransit agencies.

The tunnel would include a 1-mile spur from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal dramatically changing the commuting landscape by offering New Jersey commuters a ride all the way to the East Side on one train.

It would be the first tunnel built between New York and New Jersey since the Lincoln Tunnel's third tube was completed in 1957. Crowding at Penn Sta. is one reason for a new Hudson rail tunnel. It would be the first underwater rail crossing since the old Pennsylvania Railroad burrowed under the Hudson in 1910.

It would be one of the Big Apple's biggest construction projects -- five times more costly than City Hall's proposal for a $1 billion freight-rail tunnel under New York Harbor.

The project is being put on the drawing boards by the Port Authority, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and NJ Transit. Last week, the three agencies authorized $3.6 million to hammer out preliminary design plans. The Big Three transit agencies already have spent $5 million in feasibility studies. The extra funding will move the tunnel toward the "build stage," officials say.

The mission: relieve massive crowding in Penn Station -- and sardine-like conditions on trains --and improve access to the midtown core, which is bursting at the seams because of an economic boom.

How it would be funded is still unclear. Neither Albany, Trenton nor the Port Authority have squirreled away the money in their capital budgets. But planners say federal funds from TEA-21, the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, could be tapped.

Planners hope to break ground within five years and finish the job in 15 years.

Officials say that Penn Station is near capacity, and that the old tunnel built 88 years ago under the Hudson at 33^rd St. can't easily handle the growing number of trains zipping into the city.

N.Y. governor promises improved transportation services

NEW YORK -- New York State Gov. George Pataki on Tuesday promised to give New York City commuters, who have been sorely tried by crowded and dirty conditions on subways and buses, their biggest-ever improvement in service.

"Under the successful leadership of Chairman E. Virgil Conway, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York will commit all its surplus funds to enhance bus and subway services, and improve maintenance and cleaning -- the largest single-year increase in service in the history of the system," Pataki said, in prepared remarks.

But few details were available on how the unexpectedly large $379 million year-end windfall will be spent. The Republican governor, who spoke to reporters on a subway platform at midtown Manhattan's Grand Central Station, said only that "hundreds and hundreds" of cleaning personnel would be added. He did not say which commuter lines will get enhanced train and bus service or precisely how many new cleaners would be hired.

According to one transit advocacy group, on an average weekday as many as 560,000 more riders are taking buses and trains than a year-ago.

Pataki's plan to boost service on the city transit system contrasted sharply with the cuts that he enacted during his first term, when the fare also was raised 25 cents to $1.50.

Amtrak’s Cascades service delayed until Christmas -- maybe

SALEM, Ore -- For regular rail passengers, it may be no surprise that Amtrak's newest train is running late. Amtrak had planned to launch its daily Cascades service – a sleek new Eurostyle train, custom-designed for the Northwest traveler -- on Tuesday.

But the launch has been postponed for at least a few weeks.

"We hope to be out by Christmas, absolutely, that's our busy travel period,'' Amtrak spokesman Dominick Albano said. "But we aren't making any commitments yet.''

Putting the finishing touches on the rail cars is taking longer than expected, said Jean Pierre Ruiz, chief operating officer for Talgo Inc.

The new cars, decorated in a color scheme called evergreen and cappuccino, are filled with gizmos such as in-seat audio systems, overhead video monitors, laptop computer outlets, recycling bins and bike racks.

"They are very much custom-built for the Northwest,'' said Stan Suchan, a Washington state Department of Transportation spokesman. "We have completely redesigned the seats. We lightened the tint on the windows so you can see both in and out of the trains, and it's not so dark on our winter days.''

The three new trains carry the names Mount Hood, Mount Baker and Mount Rainier. Amtrak's Cascades service will replace the popular Cascadia run that debuted four years ago along the 466-mile Pacific Northwest Rail Corridor, which runs from Eugene to Vancouver, British Columbia.

On their way north, the trains will stop in Albany, Salem and Portland before crossing the Columbia River into Washington state. In Washington, the trains will stop in Vancouver, Kelso,

Centralia, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Edmonds, Everett, Mount Vernon and Bellingham.

Amtrak bought one of the new $10 million trains, and Washington state paid for two of them, but Oregon passengers will get to use them at the same price as their northern neighbors, Suchan said.

Newspaper reports plans to restore Fort Worth train depot

FORT WORTH -- The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that a local investor has plans to restore the 99 year old Santa Fe Railroad Depot and Santa Fe Railroad Freight Building in downtown Fort Worth

The depot, constructed of distinctive red brick and white stone, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has hosted Amtrak passenger trains since 1971. Shirlee Gandy, a Fort Worth investor who believes in saving parts of our heritage, has purchased the two properties and is investigating financial aid as she researches the cost of restoration.