The busiest rail chokepoint in America is a pair of 115-year-old tunnels under the Hudson River, and the Hudson Tunnel Project exists to fix it before they fail. The $16 billion job builds two new single-track tubes between Weehawken, New Jersey, and Manhattan’s West Side, then rehabilitates the existing North River Tunnels that Sandy’s saltwater corroded in 2012.

Project Scope

The new tubes each run about 7,250 feet under the river. In April 2026 the Gateway Development Commission awarded the central piece, Package 1C, to a Traylor/Walsh/Skanska joint venture for $1.29 billion, covering the longest bored stretch plus the tunnel liner and floor. The first tunnel boring machine is set to launch from North Bergen toward Manhattan in mid-to-late 2026.

That single river crossing is one slice of a much larger program. Six of the project’s ten construction packages are now complete or underway, from the Hudson Yards concrete casing that protects the future right-of-way to surface and shaft work on both shores.

Why It Matters

Two tracks carry every Amtrak and NJ Transit train between New York and points south. If either of the century-old tubes goes out of service, the Northeast Corridor loses up to 75% of its trans-Hudson capacity, and the economic hit ripples down the entire Boston-to-Washington spine. Building redundancy isn’t a luxury here. It’s the difference between routine maintenance and a regional shutdown.

The project also became a political flashpoint in early 2026, when a federal funding dispute froze reimbursements, idled contractors, and stalled procurement until litigation by New York and New Jersey freed more than $254 million in overdue payments. It’s part of the same trans-Hudson rail push as the $8 billion Penn Station rebuild. With cash flow restored and the boring contract finally awarded, the most consequential infrastructure job on the East Coast is moving dirt again.

Project Team & Details