Subway to Secaucus Engineering Report Issued

Plans to extend the New York City Transit No. 7 subway line, which runs between Flushing and Times Square in Manhattan, onward to NJ Transit’s Secaucus Junction transfer station have surfaced again.  The idea was first proposed more than 2 years ago by Mayor Bloomberg’s administration; then-chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Joseph Lhota dismissed the idea about a year ago, saying the line was “not going to happen in anybody’s lifetime”.  However, now it’s back in the news, following a report prepared by the engineering consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, according to reporting by Matt Flegenheimer in The New York Times (April 11).  The MTA continues to be skeptical, noting that the new report does not contain any cost estimates.  Plans for new trans-Hudson rail capacity have been in flux since Governor Christie of New Jersey scuttled plans for a new heavy-rail tunnel, called “access to the region’s core”, in October 2010.  More recently, Amtrak has proposed new tunnels that could be shared by Amtrak and NJ Transit.  Governor Christie’s office, reacting to the new study, noted that the Governor had been “intrigued” when the No. 7 extension had been originally proposed and that the Governor would continue to explore its viability.