Virginia Association of Railway Patrons

Modern Transportation for the Virginias

Amtrak Gateway Project Funded

“Federal and Amtrak officials and state officials from New York and New Jersey announced Nov. 11, 2015 that they have reached an agreement on funding commitments and a governance structure that will allow the long-awaited, critically important $20 billion Gateway Tunnel Project to construct two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River to move forward,” reported Railway Age.

VARP Endorsement of Amtrak’s Gateway Project

The Virginia Association of Railway Patrons endorses federal funding for the Amtrak Gateway project to construct new tunnels under the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York, along with associated infrastructure. On July 10, VARP sent the following letter to the Congressional delegations (Representatives and Senators) of Virginia and West Virginia.

The Virginia Association of Railway Patrons requests that Congress appropriate special funding to construct the Amtrak Gateway project connecting New Jersey and New York City. Our association is a nonprofit volunteer group advocating better rail service in Virginia and West Virginia.

Amtrak has pointed out that the existing tunnels under the Hudson River need major work and at some point will have to be taken out of service.

Closing even one tunnel at a time would severely impact interstate transportation, because the road, rapid transit, and ferry systems could not handle the number of people served by even one of the Hudson rail tunnels.

Except for the Virginia-Florida Auto Train and Washington-Chicago Capitol Limited, all Amtrak trains serving Virginia and West Virginia use these tunnels. The schedules of all these trains are in no small part based on their successful passage through these tunnels at specific, coordinated times.

The tunnels also are used by trains serving New York and New Jersey, plus the other Northeast Corridor states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, plus the District of Columbia.

In addition, trains serving Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, and Vermont use the Hudson River tunnels.

The tunnels and the other elements of the Gateway project, such as the Portal Bridge, are a multistate transportation facility of national significance and deserve federal funding to proceed at once.

Sincerely yours,

Stephen Dunham
Chairman