Amtrak executive chief warns about storm Sandy damaged tunnels in the Hudson river

Two major rail tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey are becoming a burning issue for politicians and local authorities and may even cause Amtrak to suspend its operation along the rail network, unless the two tunnels are repaired. It is estimated that the two tunnels under the Hudson River carry about 600,000 people per day, including short and long distance commuters between New York and New Jersey.

Amtrak may have close one of the North River tunnels, within 20 years to perform necessary repair works. According to a rough estimate, if one of the tunnels closes for repair works, given no other alternatives, the rail network's capacity will drop from 24 to 6 trains per hour during rush hours. Given that estimate, the chief executive of Amtrak, is severely criticizing top politicians' "insufficiency of leadership", given that projects promoting the construction of new tunnels were either cancelled or still remain at early planning stages. Given the fact that the Highway Trust Fund could run out of financial resources in the following weeks, may create a traffic crisis in the city of New York. 

Moreover, the deterioration of the 100 year old tunnels was significantly speeded up after hurricane Sandy in 2012, as they flooded with corrosive salt water. According to Mr Boardman, representing the federal government's Highway Trust Fund, "salt is speeding up the damage to cables and concrete and rails and ballast and all the things that it takes to maintain a reliable crossing under the Hudson River". The uncertainty involved in estimating the speed of the tunnels' deterioration, makes experts estimate that the tunnels could last from seven even up to twenty years. If the good scenario of twenty years is verified, then there should be time to replace the tunnels, a project that is estimated to take eight to nine years. But what if the worst case scenario becomes a reality?