But we digress. "A new rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey is officially starting construction," Bloomberg reported last week. The project is called the "Gateway Project". 

US Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete was joined at a ceremony in Hudson Yards by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. He remarked: "This is a day that I know that this city, this region, this country has been looking for and waiting for for a very long time." 

Uh, no, Pete. That will be the day when the tunnel is actually up and running and people don't need to wait 2 hours and pay $75 to get through the Lincoln Tunnel. 

But we digress again. The Bloomberg report notes that The Gateway Project should be a crucial solution for alleviating traffic bottlenecks beneath the Hudson River—a pivotal juncture on the Northeast Corridor that spans from Boston to Washington.

It is the nation's most frequented passenger rail line, catering to over 750,000 passengers daily. The current tunnel, under Amtrak's ownership and also serving New Jersey Transit, has stood for over a hundred years and faces mounting reliability concerns.

The first construction phase will lay underground casings linking the new tunnel to New York's Pennsylvania Station. However, commuters won't see benefits until the tunnel, with its two tracks, is operational by 2035. And we'll take the "over" on that date. 

This year, the Gateway tunnel secured a $6.9 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration, with an additional $3.8 billion announced on Friday. This brings Washington's total contribution to over $11 billion, covering around 70% of the project's cost, according to Schumer. New York and New Jersey will shoulder the remaining expenses.