Gov. Christie Was Right to Terminate the ARC Tunnel

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Governor Chris Christie was right to have terminated the trans-Hudson tunnel project as currently conceived. In its current state, ARC is purely a local commuter rail connection to Manhattan with a terminus adjacent to Penn Station but not even tied into its Amtrak intercity lines. An investment on this scale should be considered in a larger context of the proposed Amtrak's NE Corridor high-speed line. As such, it is properly a project of regional or even national significance and should be funded primarily by the federal government and not by New Jersey taxpayers.

If there is one corridor in this country that justifies and deserves true high-speed rail service by virtue of its urban densities, passenger flows, economic activity and sheer size and importance, it's the Boston-to-Washington corridor. More than any other transportation initiative of recent years, the Amtrak concept plan evokes the tradition of what Felix Rohatyn has called America’s "bold endeavors" — a series of grand transportation enterprises that began with the Erie Canal and the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century and continued into the 20th century with the Panama Canal and the Interstate Highway System. The Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Line would be a truly worthy 21st century inheritor of that tradition. And the Trans-Hudson Tunnel could be a fitting beginning to this bold venture.

N.J. Alliance for Action is correct in urging that the $3 billion federal commitment to the ARC tunnel should be redirected to Amtrak for construction of the trans-Hudson tunnel as an integral part and essential first element of Amtrak's plans to develop high-speed rail service in the Northeast Corridor. And Rep John Mica (R-FL) is right on in saying that any future federal high-speed rail assistance should be focused primarily on making the Amtrak vision a reality rather than dissipated among many so-called "high-speed" rail corridors of questionable merit.

http://myprogressiverailroading.com/blogs/korski/archive/2010/10/29/gov-christie-was-right-to-terminate-the-arc-tunnel.aspx#21725

[Ban Hammer 13,519]

wait, he was right? i thought he was getting grief for that decision to ax it.

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wait, he was right?

if he was right, it wasn't for the reasons he claimed to have done it.