NEWARK, N.J. — A prolonged court fight over funding for the Hudson Tunnel project could add over $1 billion to the final cost of the rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey, NJ.com reports.
That figure comes from an online forum conducted Monday, March 2, by the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit planning group representing 31 counties in the tristate New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area.
PRA CEO Tom Wright told participants that a six-month delay to the project could add $720 million to $1.34 billion to the multibillion-dollar project. The federal government has released some $236 million in funding withheld since last October, allowing construction to resume after halting on Feb. 6 [see “Work restarting …,” Trains.com, Feb. 24].
But the Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the project, said last week it will not award two key contracts — to build the tunnel itself, as well as the surface line leading to it in New Jersey — until it is assured it has access to all $15 billion in previously committed federal grants and loans. Those contracts were scheduled to be awarded late last year or early this year.
Two lawsuits — one by the states of New York and New Jersey, and one by the Gateway Commission — are seeking to ensure the release of all the funding. The states’ suit led to a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas ordering that the funds be released while the suit continues; the federal government is appealing that decision.
President Donald Trump, in a social media post after the court ruling, called the project a “future boondoggle” and said the federal government would be responsible for “not one dollar” of any cost overruns [see “Hudson Tunnel work to resume …,” Feb. 18, 2026].
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Is there any evidence of mismanagement? Are there any known examples of poor decision making?
CalHSR is a public works catastrophe that Mr. Trump rightly opposes. It doesn’t follow that Gateway deserves the same criticism.
In calling this project a “future boondoggle”, what exactly is Mr. Trump referring to. What is the basis of his opinion.