Good idea

As one who has spent too many hours waiting on trains outside the tunnel portal in Jersey due to an "unavoidable mechanical delay" on the train ahead, I say, "It's about frickin' time!"

Plan for New Rail Tunnel Takes Turn Toward Reality - New York Times

SECAUCUS, N.J., Aug. 11 — It was just a few years ago that New Jersey Transit’s executive director would try to explain — to anyone who would listen — the wonders of building another commuter train tunnel under the Hudson River. And every time, he would see eyes glaze over.

“People would say, ‘Great idea,’ ” George D. Warrington, the executive director, said in a recent interview. “ ‘Maybe my grandchildren will see it.’ ”

But a series of events in the last few weeks have made it more likely that it will not just be grandchildren, but their grandparents, too, who will see the completion of what is being called the Trans-Hudson Express tunnel, which would link New Jersey with Midtown.

The 9.3-mile project would cost an estimated $7.2 billion, create as many as 44,000 jobs and more than double the number of trains that cross the Hudson River during rush hour. Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey says the second rail tunnel, with its target completion date of 2016, is “vital to the state’s economic future.”

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