Amtrak Seeks Funding Help From The Related Cos. For Rail Tunnel Under Hudson Yards

The Amtrak Gateway project is hundreds of millions of dollars short on funding, and Hudson Yards could feel the effect.

The third and final concrete encasement for the planned rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey needs $440M for completion, and Gateway Development Corp., the coalition of representatives from Amtrak, New York and New Jersey has publicly asked The Related Cos. to pitch in, Politico reports.

The encasement would need to go under the second phase of Related's Hudson Yards, which is scheduled to be completed by 2025. Though it is reportedly slated to begin capping the portion between 11th Avenue and the West Side Highway next year, to do so before work has begun on the encasement would render the latter impossible.

“We’d love any contributions and are in ongoing discussions with the Related Cos.,” Gateway Development Corp. Executive Director John Porcari said. “We recognize that the third piece of the tunnel box needs to be built very quickly so that it doesn’t impact Hudson Yards and so that we maintain a tunnel route into New York.”

Maintaining rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey is a crucial element of travel and commerce for the entire East Coast, and the ones in use right now might require massively disruptive repairs in the future if the burden on them is not eased.

Neither Porcari nor representatives for Related discussed any specific funding plans, their potential size or possibilities for reimbursement. The U.S. Department of Transportation pulled out of its place on the Gateway Development Corp. board in July, erasing any certainty of a federal contribution to the tunnel.

In January, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which also has representatives on the Gateway Board, pledged $2.7B in funding for the project.