New Jersey Transit says the cost of constructing the $5 billion Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel (THE Tunnel) — a second commuter rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan — is dwarfed by the expected $10 billion it would pump into the region’s economy.

NJ Transit’s analysis says the tunnel has potential to add $480 million in tax revenue over the next 20 years by attracting development to the West Side of Manhattan and across northeastern New Jersey. It would create 44,000 new jobs; 16,000 in New Jersey and 28,000 in New York. A new study estimates 7,450 new jobs in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic counties; 4,400 in Middlesex, Somerset and Union; 2,150 in Morris, Sussex, Hunterdon and Warren; and 1,800 in Monmouth and Ocean.

"THE Tunnel" would meet NJ Transit’s needs for rail capacity to New York City for the next twenty years. The economic study was done as part of the project’s ongoing environmental review, which will be released in full this summer.

NJ Transit’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a new rail line connecting the Jersey Shore and parts of Middlesex County to Manhattan (the Middlesex-Ocean-Monmouth study) appears to favor a route that would connect Lakehurst to Matawan.

The Lakehurst to Matawan route would include stops in Freehold Township, Perth Amboy, Woodbridge, Newark and points in between. The DEIS estimates the alignment would cost $730 million to build, and $45 million a year to run. It would serve 10,900 people per day.

But the Matawan Line already faces fierce opposition in Monmouth County, especially Marlboro Borough, because it would destroy the Henry Hudson Trail, a pedestrian trail being built on an old freight line. Assemblymembers Michael Panter and Robert Morgan are spearheading a citizen’s committee to fight the proposed line.

There is no timetable for either of the new lines, and the state will need to refinance its overall transportation programs in order for spending and construction schedules to become clearer . NJ Transit’s operating budget crisis (MTR #491) raises a further question about how the agency can afford to running new rail lines. 

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