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vanshnookenraggen t1_izyeub6 wrote

Reply to comment by Sams_Butter_Sock in Ground broken on new $3.2B station that will take riders from Bronx-to-Penn Station in one ride by elizabeth-cooper

No, there is a very specific section of that tunnel which is absolutely not wide enough. You're thinking of the Freedom Tunnel which, at one point, had 4 tracks. But these tracks never went to Penn Station originally. A connection was made later on, and it is a single bore tube.

A second tunnel would have to be threaded below Hudson Yards. Is that possible? Totally. Will it cost a billion dollars? No doubt.

But the thing that is really going to keep Phase 2 from happening is ridership. PSA runs through a dense section of the Bronx and connects to CT. The Hudson Line runs along the river and serves mostly bedroom communities. That means the potential ridership is way lower.

PSA running along the NEC could justify the high price tag. Phase 2, maybe not so much.

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Sams_Butter_Sock t1_izyg00d wrote

Well that small portion just leave single tracked. As long as there isn’t trains 5 minutes apart I’m sure there won’t be a problem. Also this project is important in my opinion regardless of the ridership on metro north since the state is always talking about getting higher speed trains and electrification to the empire corridor for Amtrak. But you are right about this being a project for after this one

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