Railroad Forums
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Jeff Smith wrote:To paraphrase the bearded chubby guy said to Luke in the first Starwars, "STAY ON TOPIC". The rest is interesting and has been split into a new topic in General Commuter.
morris&essex4ever wrote:Would building these tunnels matter a lot if NJ was a more business friendly state?That has nothing to do with Amtrak. And the answer would still be yes, assuming a significant change in commuting patterns from NY into NJ.
morris&essex4ever wrote:NYC in the 1980s was just as bad if not worse than Newark is today. IIRC, even the NYSE threatened to move to NJ if lower Manhattan wasn't "cleaned up." If NYC got it's act together, why can't we make cities in NJ better environments for businesses and reduce the need for people to commute to NYC? More jobs in NJ, more tax revenue for NJ, better for NJ's economyAgain, that does not reduce the need to commute through NYC, especially if commuters coming from the east, north and northeast have to cross the Hudson to get to work. It also puts an additional strain on Amtrak since the NJ stations it stops at do not have the same capacity platform-wise.
Amtrak's plan to build a new tunnel under the Hudson River into Penn Station will require the LIRR to move a critical train maintenance facility from Manhattan to Queens for more than two years, officials said.
Shifting maintenance operations from the Long Island Rail Road's West Side Yard to its Hillside, Queens, facility would put workers and resources farther away from any train breakdown in or near Penn Station for 26 months.
"If we had our druthers, would we be doing this? No," LIRR president Helena Williams said. "But we recognize that we're in a region where . . . intercity rail's future is extremely important, and we're cooperating."
Williams said the move is needed to accommodate Amtrak's Gateway Project, which includes new tunnels and tracks between Penn Station and Newark. One of those tunnels would run directly under the LIRR's maintenance facility on the yard's east side.
Although Gateway is not targeted for completion until 2040, construction on the tunnels needs to begin soon because Manhattan developer Related Companies plans to install structural supports in the same location for a commercial and residential project on top of the yard. The LIRR expects to make about $1 billion from a 99-year lease for the development.
ThirdRail7 wrote:I guess they are taking this proposal to the next level since the window of opportunity is narrowing. Apparently, LIRR has been approached about temporarily abandoning West Side Yard.Yeah, saw a note of that elsewhere. Is this related to the "box" I understand they're building the SW corner to make sure the space for the tunnels is reserved from future construction or other work?
A brief "fair use" quote:
Amtrak tunnel project to uproot LIRR facility
http://newyork.newsday.com/news/new-yor ... -1.5129041
Backshophoss wrote:So in effect the 3rd tunnel is now aimed at connecting with the Empire connection tunnel,with that Jct winding upTwo tunnels, connecting to the yard stub end tracks next to the empire tunnel bellmouth. Basically you'll see 3 tunnels, 2 go under the hudson one connects to points north.
under LIRR's West Side yard(a single switch),that would be the least disruptive to all involved.
Why deadhead equipment all the way back to Hillside,a simple crossover from 1 of the Sunnyside loop tracks to Yard A(ESA yard),and service
them at Arch Street(space permiting).
