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PBS “American Experience” Program on Grand Central Terminal
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
The PBS American Experience program on New York City’s Grand Central Terminal is now available for viewing online. Penn Station’s beaux arts station building was demolished and plans to upgrade the busiest train station in the country to be more than a glorified basement after more than 40 years may be in jeopardy. Fortunately, Grand Central’s original station building was preserved and still serves hundreds of thousands of passengers (mainly commuters) daily.
—Matthew Melzer
Posted by NARP
Tags: grand central terminal, historic preservation, penn station, station redevelopment,Flag Stops: Refilling the Coffers
Monday, August 24, 2009
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: airlines, amtrak, arc, congress, florida, gas taxes, grassroots, high-speed rail, hudson river tunnels, idaho, michigan, organization, penn station, pioneer, railroads, short-haul flights, transportation for america, travel,NJT Halts Work on Flawed Tunnel Project
Monday, September 13, 2010
In what today’s New York Times reported as “a highly unusual move, officials at New Jersey Transit…said over the weekend that they had placed a 30-day moratorium on all new work and contract bids until they could determine if the project’s cost would be covered by its budget.”
The Newark Star-Ledger reported that “federal officials say the project may go as much as a billion dollars over budget—money New Jersey doesn’t have. The month-long suspension of all new activity—imposed by NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein in the wake of concerns by the Federal Transit Administration—will be used to re-examine the budget numbers…Weinstein remains convinced the tunnel project will survive, although there are other dynamics in play. Money for transportation projects is already in short supply and the nearly broke [New Jersey] Transportation Trust Fund — which pays for highway and rail programs — is now on life support and there is little appetite to raise tolls or a gas tax to replenish the capital improvement fund.”
While their public comments make no reference to changing the design of the project—an $8.7 billion plan that would not link new Hudson River rail tunnels to New York’s Pennsylvania Station—NARP members and others who have been pressing to fix the design have also noted the project’s finance problems. In a jointly-signed August 24 letter to New Jersey Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, NARP President Ross Capon and University of Pennsylvania Emeritus Professor of Transportation Vukan Vuchic addressed cost-saving opportunities. The letter began with the following four points:
- A link between the new tunnels and Pennsylvania Station (NYP) is essential and is compatible with both items (2) and (3).
- Eliminating the 34th Street Terminal offers both transportation and cost-saving benefits (with comparable combined capacity at an expanded Penn Station or by proceeding directly to Grand Central).
- Deferring construction of the 34th Street Terminal combined with increasing capacity at NYP can also be considered, particularly because NJT does not expect to fully utilize total Hudson River tunnel capacity in the initial years after the new tunnels open.
- Alternatively, taking NJT’s original plan for a 34th Street terminal and restoring the New York Pennsylvania Station link to it can be done with a 2.5% gradient, which is steeper than NJT’s preferred 2.1% and yet less than an existing NJT 2.7% grade at Rahway. To our knowledge, the gradient question has not been discussed, or at least not adequately. Adhering to ideal engineering standards is, as always, desirable, but in this case its cost of such adherence is unacceptably high.
Part of the reason that this flawed project has advanced so far is that so many people are unaware of its fatal flaw, finding it hard to believe that officials would propose to spend so much money on Hudson River rail tunnels that do not connect to Penn Station. The more that Secretary LaHood, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff and New Jersey officials hear about public concern over the problem, the more likely it is that design flaws will be addressed.
Letters to the editor which name responsible public officials are a good way to get your views heard.
- -Ross Capon
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: 34th street, access to the region's core, amtrak, deep cavern, design flaws, hudson river tunnels, new jersey transit, new york city, penn station,More Debate Among New Jersey Officials on the ARC Hudson River Tunnels
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Assemblyman John Wisniewski and State Senator Michael Doherty appear on New Jersey Now to debate Governor Christie’s suspension of work on the ARC Hudson River Tunnel, and the Penn Station/Moynihan rail link.
Posted by NARP
Tags: arc, christie, hudson river tunnels, new jersey, penn station,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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