Port Authority advancing PATH extension to Newark Airport

[lensovet]

Oh right, I forgot about that. Well, once that work is done, you can have sane schedules again…and eliminate 90% of the cost by just connecting the existing station to the city.

But that would be too logical of course

[jamesinclair]

Oh right, I forgot about that. Well, once that work is done, you can have sane schedules again…and eliminate 90% of the cost by just connecting the existing station to the city.

But that would be too logical of course

The thing is, will the work ever be done? I believe it started in 2012, after Sandy. Amtrak has not once reported an end date.

[EuroStar]

There will never be a different weekend schedule until a new tunnel is built under the Hudson. One to three trains bunched up within a few minutes is what is required to allow for weekend maintenance work. That was the way before Sandy. That will remain the way after Sandy. As for just connecting the station to the neighborhood and calling it a day. There are two issues:
1.The station was built with some airport fee money and FAA regulations say that any infrastructure built that way is for air passenger exclusive use only.
2.If PATH is not extended then the Port Authority cannot pay for the station work. NJT will need to come up with the money and of course NJT does not have them.

But yes, connecting the station without the expensive PATH extension is the sane thing to do.

[lensovet]

There will never be a different weekend schedule until a new tunnel is built under the Hudson. One to three trains bunched up within a few minutes is what is required to allow for weekend maintenance work. That was the way before Sandy. That will remain the way after Sandy. As for just connecting the station to the neighborhood and calling it a day. There are two issues:
1.The station was built with some airport fee money and FAA regulations say that any infrastructure built that way is for air passenger exclusive use only.
2.If PATH is not extended then the Port Authority cannot pay for the station work. NJT will need to come up with the money and of course NJT does not have them.

But yes, connecting the station without the expensive PATH extension is the sane thing to do.

You're right, I was just looking at the Amtrak website where all their "NYP renewal" work supposedly finished in August of this year. But I am a bit confused on the maintenance aspect. Is there really no end to this until a new tunnel is built?

re: airport fee money, that makes sense, but I don't understand how a PATH extension sidesteps the issue?

[andrewjw]

There will never be a different weekend schedule until a new tunnel is built under the Hudson. One to three trains bunched up within a few minutes is what is required to allow for weekend maintenance work. That was the way before Sandy. That will remain the way after Sandy. As for just connecting the station to the neighborhood and calling it a day. There are two issues:
1.The station was built with some airport fee money and FAA regulations say that any infrastructure built that way is for air passenger exclusive use only.
2.If PATH is not extended then the Port Authority cannot pay for the station work. NJT will need to come up with the money and of course NJT does not have them.

But yes, connecting the station without the expensive PATH extension is the sane thing to do.

You're right, I was just looking at the Amtrak website where all their "NYP renewal" work supposedly finished in August of this year. But I am a bit confused on the maintenance aspect. Is there really no end to this until a new tunnel is built?

re: airport fee money, that makes sense, but I don't understand how a PATH extension sidesteps the issue?

There is no end until a new tunnel is built. "NYP renewal" refers to track work within Penn during the summers where tracks or switches are taken out of service.

PATH extension built with non-airport-earmarked money means the facility will be released from the lock.

[Kilgore Trout]

Idle thought: would it be better to instead extend the EWR AirTrain to Newark Penn when it's replaced? It's about 2.5 miles further, which is not really all that far when you consider that the JFK AirTrain is about 2.5 miles from Jamaica to Federal Circle. I assume Amtrak and NJTransit would be all in favor since closing the EWR mainline station would simplify their operations.

Of course there are benefits to extending PATH (direct city access, possibility of infill stations), just wondering if this has been considered.