It recommends construction of a cross-harbor tunnel for freight trains, and near-term investment in a modern rail car float barge system as a "building block" for a more vigorous market for rail freight services. It finds that tunnel alignments between both Brooklyn and Jersey City and between Brooklyn and Staten Island would be feasible.

The report also finds:

· A rail tunnel would divert 8.6 million tons of freight from truck to rail annually, amounting to 1 million fewer annual truck trips across the Verrazano and George Washington Bridges - a 6% reduction. This number does not include additional truck reduction that could be gained from port development in Brooklyn, through-rail trips and rail traffic induced by the existence of better railroad infrastructure.

· The rail car float operation would divert 2.2 million freight tons annually from trucks, saving about 1% of Verrazano/George Washington Bridge truck trips. The system is projected to run 24 barge crossings per day, compared to 2-4 daily today.

· Estimated pollution, congestion and crash reductions and fuel and infrastructure savings produced by the rail tunnel would be valued at at least $416 million annually.

· Costs range from $150 million for the float system to $2.3 billion for a double-track rail tunnel from Brooklyn to Staten Island.

· Financing recommendations point to the federal Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (a credit/loan program) and Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality programs, to other sources of federal credit for transportation projects and to the Port Authority, state multi-modal programs and participation by the railroads.



Issues for the choice of a tunnel route, aside from bi-state politics, are potential railroad operating conflicts in Jersey City's Greenville Yard between trains moving to and from NYC and those serving local docks and the Bayonne peninsula. Service interruptions due to marine traffic at the Arthur Kill lift bridge are a potential problem for the Staten Island alignment. Marine traffic in the Kill has priority over the railroad line. The lift bridge also carries only one track. Improvements to connecting railroads in Brooklyn, New Jersey and possibly Staten Island would be required to take full advantage of a rail tunnel.



EDC will now move the project into its environmental impact statement phase, and will try to include the various alternatives in regional planning documents like the NYMTC Transportation Improvement Program. The EIS is projected to take two years. Thereafter, city and regional agencies should seek to implement the float barge system as quickly as possible. Tunnel financing issues will likely come to a head in 2003-2004, when reauthorization of federal transportation programs and the NY State capital program are once again on the table.



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