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Tunnel Boring Begins for Hudson Tunnel Project in North Bergen
Officials gathered in North Bergen on Monday, September 28, 2026, to mark a major milestone for the Hudson Tunnel Project as construction entered the tunnel boring phase.
At the event on Tonnelle Avenue, a massive tunnel boring machine began drilling through the Palisades rock, building the tunnel behind it as it advances. The tunnels will run through the Palisades, under the Hudson River, and into Manhattan, carrying Amtrak and NJ Transit trains through two new passenger rail tubes. The new tunnel is set to open in 2035.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill helped kick off the boring, joined by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Chuck Schumer.
“200,000 passengers travel between New Jersey and New York through the current century-old tunnel every single day,” Sherrill said. “Finishing this project will transform our economy, creating nearly 100,000 jobs and $20 billion of economic activity from construction alone.”
Sherrill said the existing tunnel, which dates to the era of President Theodore Roosevelt, is no longer adequate for the region’s needs. “Anyone who’s endured the hours-long delays in the current tunnel can tell you it’s no longer state-of-the-art,” she said.
The project is part of the broader Gateway Program, which has been the subject of a legal fight with the Trump administration over federal funding.
“We have beaten the Trump Administration’s efforts to stop Gateway five times, and we will keep fighting for the commuters, workers, and families who need us to finish the most important infrastructure project in the country,” Sherrill said in a statement. “This tunnel boring machine moves in one direction: forward. So will we.”
