Port Authority to give $3B to new Hudson tunnel project

, originally uploaded by michael cinque

Another $1B slated for tunnel for the new Hudson rail tunnel named Access to the Region’s Core:

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will provide another $1 billion to build a tunnel to carry trains under the Hudson River, bringing its total contribution to the $7.5 billion project to $3 billion.
The authority had committed $2 billion to the tunnel, which is scheduled to be completed by 2017. The agency operates the region’s airports, the bridges and tunnels that carry automobiles between New Jersey and New York City, and the PATH train system.
New Jersey Transit says the tunnel will almost double the number of trains that can travel into Manhattan at rush hour, easing congestion as more commuters switch to mass transit amid rising gas prices and more crowded highways, and reducing travel time into the biggest city in the United States.

The authority also will ask the board today to approve a toll increase of $2 on its Hudson River and Staten Island crossings and a 50-cent raise on PATH train fares, the Star-Ledger of Newark reported Wednesday, citing unidentified transportation officials.

the tunnel project study map
The project aims at connecting the Main/Bergen/Pascack Valley Lines of New Jersey Transit with the North East Corridor service. Passengers will be able to take a “one seat journey” to NY Penn Station instead of transferring at Secaucus. A new 6 track terminal facility will be constructed under 34th Street with connections to the existing Penn Station. Additionally, the two new single-track tunnels will be linked to the existing Penn Station facility to facilitate periodic repairs and maintenance on the existing 1917 Hudson Tunnels.
the_tunnel NY Penn Station Cross Section
Taking the long view, the linking of the NJ Transit Main/Bergen/Pascack Valley Lines to Penn Station will allow rail service to the Port Authority’s newest airport acquisition, Stewart International Airport, some 55 miles north of NYC via the Port Jervis Line. This rail link will be necessary to make this facility commercially viable, much like the rail links to London’s Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow airports.

Tuesday Links

On the Tennessee Valley Authority

Norris Resevoir and DamNorris Resevoir and Dam, originally uploaded by Robby Edwards

Review: The Tennessee Valley Authority:

Spanning seven states and 24 dams, the development of the TVA was a massive project affecting millions of people. Not just a feat of engineering or America’s grandest planning effort, the TVA sought to bring economic development to one of the country’s poorest regions, through flood control and the generation of electricity.

Mrs. Marie Griffith, manager of the information room, at one of the boards listing rates to points all over the country at the Union Station

20071118-chicago_union_station.jpg
Mrs. Marie Griffith, manager of the information room, at one of the boards listing rates to points all over the country at the Union Station, 1943, Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Culled from searches for my Survey of Pennsylvania Railroad Station entry.
I wonder what happened to Mrs. Marie Griffith?

Union Stations

Waiting RoomWaiting Room, originally uploaded by plemeljr

While it seems that trains are on my mind with:

Here’s another train-link: a List of Union Stations and Union Station Flickr Tag. Union Stations which are …train station[s] where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them. I thought Union Station denoted a station which served Union Pacific trains or were built in the Union (as in Civil War Union).
Carry on.

Buffalo Central Terminal

Untitled-Grayscale-12Untitled-Grayscale-12, originally uploaded by Isaac-CC

A wonderful set of the abandoned Buffalo Central Terminal on flickr, Buffalo Central Terminal set:

In 1925 the New York Central RR, the City of Buffalo, the Grade Crossing and Terminal Station Commission signed an agreement to allow Central Terminal to be built in its present location, 2-1/2 miles from the downtown business district. The architectural team of Fellheimer and Wagner were commissioned to design the building, and after having all the legalities settled, construction began on the new terminal in 1927.