Amtrak workers perform tunnel repairs to a partially flooded train track bed, Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Weehawken, N.J. With a new rail tunnel into New York years away at best, Amtrak is embarking on an aggressive and expensive program to fix a 110-year-old tunnel in the interim.
On a recent Saturday morning, workers used heavy machinery to clear away chunks of the tunnel floor after rails and wooden ties had been removed.
“If we had a new tunnel we wouldn’t be spending anything on it,” Amtrak Chairman Anthony Coscia said.
On a broader scale, it must keep the tunnel operating reliably for years until a new tunnel is built and the old one can be closed for a complete overhaul.
Against that backdrop, a funding dispute between local lawmakers and the administration for former President Donald Trump stalled the new tunnel project for four years.