The first tunnel boring machines for the Hudson Tunnel Project are beginning excavation in New Jersey, moving the long-planned rail connection into a new phase of construction.
The Gateway Development Commission said the first pair of machines will bore through the hard rock beneath the Palisades Cliffs before reaching the Hudson County Access Shaft near Weehawken. A second machine is expected to follow shortly.
The work marks the first phase of boring for the new rail tunnel, which will create two new tubes beneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York.
The initial machines will excavate about 5,100 feet, or roughly one mile, from the tunnel portal in North Bergen to the access shaft. They are expected to advance about 30 feet per day, including scheduled maintenance, and reach the shaft roughly one year after launch.
The machines will not continue from New Jersey directly beneath the river. Once they reach the access shaft, crews will remove them and replace them with a second pair designed for the mixed ground conditions encountered under the Hudson.
Together, four tunnel boring machines will build the two parallel tunnel tubes. The second pair will take over the section running from New Jersey toward Manhattan.
A major construction phase begins
The tunneling operation follows nearly three years of preparatory construction.
Since late 2023, contractors have built a bridge supporting Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen and excavated the launch box needed to accommodate the tunnel boring machines and their equipment.
Meanwhile, the machines were manufactured and tested before being dismantled and transported to New Jersey. Workers then spent months reassembling and testing them ahead of excavation.
The first machines are single-shield tunnel boring machines designed for hard, dry rock. Each has a cutterhead measuring 28 feet, 8 inches across, while the trailing gantry extends about 500 feet. Each machine weighs more than 1,680 tons.
As excavation advances, the machines will remove rock through their cutterheads and conveyors. Crews will install precast concrete segments behind the machines to create the permanent tunnel lining as the excavation progresses.
The first tunneling package is being delivered by Schiavone Lane Dragados JV under the Palisades Tunnel Project construction package. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is managing that package with the Gateway Development Commission.
Building a new Hudson River rail crossing
The Hudson Tunnel Project is part of the larger Gateway Program and includes construction of a new two-tube rail tunnel and rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel.
The existing tunnel has served New Jersey and New York continuously since 1910 and remains a major constraint on rail service between the two states. The overall project includes 10 construction packages. Crews completed the first in early 2026, while six others remain underway.
The new tunnel will add rail capacity and allow crews to rehabilitate the existing North River Tunnel.
For now, however, the immediate construction focus is underground in North Bergen. The first pair of boring machines must complete the rock section before the project can transition to the machines designed for the river crossing.
That makes the current launch more than a ceremonial milestone. It starts the excavation sequence that will ultimately connect the new tunnel from New Jersey to Manhattan.
The Gateway Development Commission described the launch as the beginning of the first new rail tunnel under the Hudson River since the North River Tunnel opened in 1910.
Additionally, the Hudson Tunnel Project is advancing alongside other major Gateway infrastructure improvements between New Jersey and New York. The Portal North Bridge project, which is entering its final construction phase ahead of an October track cutover, is replacing the century-old movable bridge over the Hackensack River. Together, the bridge replacement and new Hudson River tunnels are designed to address major infrastructure constraints along the Northeast Corridor and improve the reliability of rail service into New York.
Hudson Tunnel Project factsheet
- Project: Hudson Tunnel Project
- Location: New Jersey and New York
- Scope: Two new rail tunnel tubes beneath the Hudson River and rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel
- Tunnel boring: Four machines in two pairs
- First boring section: About 5,100 feet through the Palisades Cliffs
- Expected excavation rate: About 30 feet per day
- First machines: Single-shield machines for hard, dry rock
- Machine weight: More than 1,680 tons each
- Cutterhead diameter: 28 feet, 8 inches
- Current construction package: Palisades Tunnel Project
- Contractor: Schiavone Lane Dragados JV
- Delivery partners: Gateway Development Commission and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
- Overall project packages: 10
- Packages completed: 1
- Additional packages in progress: 6
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