The Gateway Development Commission launched tunnel boring for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel Project on September 28, 2026, in North Bergen, New Jersey. The work starts the first new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River in more than a century, a crossing built to serve 200,000 daily riders traveling between New York and New Jersey.
Key Takeaways
- The first tunnel boring machine will begin digging within days of the September 28 ceremonial launch, once final testing is complete, and a second machine will follow soon after.
- The first two machines will cut 5,100 feet through the Palisades Cliffs, from a portal in North Bergen to the Hudson County Access Shaft in Weehawken.
- Each machine is expected to advance roughly 30 feet per day and reach the access shaft about one year after launch.
- Four machines will build the full tunnel. A second pair, designed for the mixed ground under the river, will take over at Weehawken and continue to Manhattan.
- Each first-phase machine weighs more than 1,680 tons and has a cutterhead 28 feet, 8 inches in diameter.
- The new tunnel is planned to open in 2035, with rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel expected to finish in 2038.
A Single Century-Old Tube Carries The Region’s Rail Commute
Every Amtrak and NJ Transit train between New Jersey and Penn Station currently runs through the North River Tunnel, which has been in continuous service since 1910. The Hudson Tunnel Project describes that tube as a leading cause of train delays for hundreds of thousands of daily passengers. It also still carries damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
The Hudson Tunnel Project is designed to fix that bottleneck in two steps. First, a new two-tube tunnel will be built alongside the old one. Then, once trains can shift into the new tubes, the North River Tunnel can be taken out of service and rehabilitated without cutting capacity across the river. For commuters, that sequence matters as much as the new construction. Today, any signal failure, power problem, or disabled train inside the existing tube can ripple across the Northeast Corridor within minutes.
New York co-chair Alicia Glen framed the stakes in plain terms: “New York City doesn’t work without efficient, dependable public transportation.” Her New Jersey counterpart, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, offered a line many riders would recognize: “New Jerseyans know the pain of a delayed train.”
Trans-Hudson riders have already absorbed costs tied to regional transit upgrades, including the PATH fare increase funding the Port Authority’s system overhaul. The tunnel boring start is the first visible sign of where the separate, larger rail investment is headed. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is contributing $2.7 billion to the Hudson Tunnel Project and managing delivery of the Palisades construction package.
Two Machines Will Cut 5,100 Feet Through The Palisades
The first phase of tunnel boring runs beneath the Palisades Cliffs, the band of hard, dry rock on the New Jersey side of the river. The two machines will bore the parallel tubes at the same time, heading east from North Bergen toward Weehawken. At about 30 feet per day, including scheduled maintenance pauses, the trip is expected to take roughly a year.
At the Hudson County Access Shaft, crews will lift the first pair of machines out and lower in a second pair built for the softer, mixed ground conditions beneath the Hudson. That second pair will carry the tubes the rest of the way to Manhattan, where they will connect to tracks west of Penn Station.
How A Single Shield Machine Moves Through Rock
The Palisades machines are single shield tunnel boring machines, a design suited to hard rock. Each has a rotating cutterhead fitted with disc cutters that press against the rock face and break it into chips. Buckets collect the excavated rock and feed it onto a conveyor belt, which runs through a trailing gantry about 500 feet long before the material is hauled out.
As the machine advances, an erector arm places precast concrete segments that form the permanent tunnel lining. Hydraulic thrust jacks then brace against that finished lining to push the machine forward. In effect, the machine builds its own track as it goes.
Amtrak’s representative on the commission, Vice Chair Tony Coscia, drew the contrast with the existing tube. He noted that the North River Tunnel was “built by hand a decade before the first commercial radio broadcast.”
Nearly Three Years Of Groundwork Came Before The First Cut
The September 28 launch follows construction that began in late 2023. Contractors built a bridge supporting Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen to make room beneath the roadway for the machines’ gantries. They also excavated the launch box where the boring begins.
The machines themselves took more than a year to manufacture, and each one has nearly 100 complex components. After factory testing at the end of 2025, they were taken apart, shipped to New Jersey, and reassembled and tested on site over several months.
The first phase of boring is being carried out by the Schiavone Dragados Lane joint venture under the Palisades Tunnel construction package. The Hudson Tunnel Project is organized into ten construction packages. The first was completed in early 2026, and six more are under way.
Gateway Development Commission CEO Tom Prendergast called the milestone “the culmination of years of work” by the people who planned and designed the project.
Riders Gain Redundancy And Capacity Once The New Tubes Open
The immediate benefit of the Hudson Tunnel Project is redundancy: a second path under the river when the first one fails. The longer-term benefit is capacity. The Regional Plan Association has projected that the new tunnels will double trans-Hudson rail capacity to 48 trains per hour in the peak direction. That would shift the region’s pressure point to Penn Station’s platforms and the tracks feeding it.
Riders will not feel that change for close to a decade. For now, the Hudson Tunnel Project has moved from preparation into active excavation, and its progress will be measured in feet per day beneath the Palisades.
FAQs
When Will The New Hudson River Rail Tunnel Open?
The new tunnel is planned to open in 2035. Rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel is expected to be completed by 2038.
How Long Will The First Phase Of Tunnel Boring Take?
The first two machines are expected to reach the Hudson County Access Shaft in Weehawken about one year after launch. They will advance about 30 feet per day through 5,100 feet of rock.
How Many People Use The Hudson River Rail Tunnel?
About 200,000 daily riders on Amtrak and NJ Transit rely on the rail crossing between New Jersey and Penn Station. The new tunnel is designed to improve reliability and resilience for those riders.
How Many Tunnel Boring Machines Will Build The Hudson Tunnel?
Four machines will build the tunnel, working in two pairs. The first pair bores through the Palisades, and the second pair builds the section under the Hudson River to Manhattan.
Who Is Building The Hudson Tunnel Project?
The Gateway Development Commission oversees the Hudson Tunnel Project. The Schiavone Dragados Lane joint venture is completing the first phase of boring, with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey managing delivery of that construction package.
“`
