WASHINGTON – Amtrak said it has no plans to purchase any New Jersey Transit work related to the ARC Project.
“Amtrak is not having formal discussions with NJT regarding a joint tunnel project and has no plans to purchase any NJT work related to the ARC project. “We remain open to exploring ways to expand trans-Hudson passenger rail capacity with NJT, but Amtrak’s primary interest is in advancing Northeast Corridor high-speed rail service.
“As with any potential joint rail project with a commuter rail agency, such a collaboration with NJT would require their commitment to fully fund all costs associated with creating additional commuter train capacity.”
In October, Gov. Chris Christie accepted the recommendation of the ARC Project Executive Committee to terminate the ARC Project based on a 30-day review which confirmed the project is expected to substantially exceed its current budget.
Based on calculations by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), the final budget is expected to top $11 billion and could exceed as much as $14 billion, compared to the project’s current budget of $8.7 billion.
The federal commitment is capped at $3 billion and the federal government requires that any costs above $8.7 billion must be absorbed by the State of New Jersey. Cost overruns are estimated to be in a range from more than $2 billion to over $5 billion.
