As Gateway Program continues construction, Princetonians reflect on potential rail improvements

In late February, construction resumed on the Gateway Program after multiple lawsuits demanded the release of the entitled federal funds, which had been frozen by the Trump administration. The largest transportation project in the nation, Gateway aims to modernize the most congested ten-mile stretch of the NEC track, which connects New Jersey to New York City. In interviews with the ‘Prince,’ graduate students and commuting faculty discussed a desire for increased reliability and frequency for NJ Transit routes.

Gateway, comprised of 11 total projects, seeks to resolve a bottleneck where four tracks narrow to two between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station. If all eleven projects are completed, rail capacity at peak hours in the NEC corridor, including both NJ Transit and Amtrak trains, would double.

“It is NJ TRANSIT’s expectation that once the entire Gateway project is complete, we will experience a substantial increase in train frequency, from the current 24 trains per hour in the existing tunnels to 48,” John Chartier, a spokesperson for NJ Transit, wrote to The Daily Princetonian. 

In addition to expanding capacity, the Gateway Program ensures that existing infrastructure remains operational. Although capacity gains will not be realized until the full suite of projects is completed, benefits in reliability and resilience will be felt as aging tunnel infrastructure, which causes some of the worst delays in the country, is replaced. 

The full program’s development is predicted to continue until 2045. However, some sub-projects will finish earlier. The Hudson Tunnel Project, which includes repairs on the storm-damaged, 115-year-old North River tunnel and the construction of a new trans-Hudson tunnel, is expected to be completed in 2035.

The construction of the additional trans-Hudson tunnel will ensure that damage to one tunnel would not shut down rail service in the NEC corridor. 

“Especially with the tunnels, we know that there will be more hurricanes, super storms, and flooding events in the future. One of the best ways that we have to protect our kind of infrastructure and transportation systems is by creating some redundancy,” Joshua Berman, the campaigns manager for urban research nonprofit Regional Plan Association, told the ‘Prince.’

The expansion of New York Penn Station necessary to realize the full increase in trains will be among the last steps of the program. The expansion remains in the concept planning stage and still requires additional funding commitments.

“NJ TRANSIT plans to work with Amtrak under a Collaboration Agreement in support of the Penn Station redevelopment project. Through this joint effort, Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT, and federal partners are aligning investments and project delivery to ensure a unified, customer-focused transformation,” Chartier wrote.

The NEC corridor rail line is critical in connecting Princeton to New York City. For visitors to the University, commuting professors, and students interested in all that New York has to offer for leisure and career development, improvements in frequency and reliability could strengthen that connection.

Tina Fehlandt, a lecturer in the Lewis Center for the Arts dance program, highlighted the importance of reliable transit for bringing visiting artists to campus. “We are bringing out guests all the time from New York, and we want them to be able to get to campus when we think they’re gonna get there,” Fehlandt said. 

Davalois Fearon, also a lecturer in the dance program, has almost exclusively used NJ Transit to commute from New York since 2022.

“I would give it a solid B plus slash A minus: solidly reliable. Since I’ve been commuting here, I’ve only been stranded twice,” Fearon said. 

However, Fearon emphasized the opportunity for increased reliability and frequency. “I always leave room for delays … I would never take the train that’s scheduled to get me here on time, ever. I always build in a one hour-to-90-minute cushion,” she said. 

According to Berman, NJ Transit users would have to worry less about delays once the projects are completed. 

“They [will] be able to rely on a transportation system that actually works according to the timetable and is able to fully operationalize to its fullest capacity. Having that reliability will put a lot of trust into riders to actually take the train more,” Berman said.  

Over four years at Princeton, Sakinah Hofler, a lecturer in the Princeton Writing Program, has only driven to campus twice. She commutes on the NEC line from Newark, but stressed the large percentage of her department that commutes from Newark, New York, Philadelphia, or elsewhere along the rail lines. 

“Anything to improve the train line will be great … I mean, it’s 100 years old, right? And so it’s starting to show its age. To keep it on time and/or have more options and less cancellations would be great,” Hofler told the ‘Prince’ in an interview. 

Timothy Dalton, also a lecturer in the writing program, commutes almost exclusively by rail. “Generally, it’s relatively painless, and I love the train,” he told the ‘Prince.’ He emphasized the importance of the University’s “Revise Your Ride Program,” through which graduate students, faculty, and staff are eligible for a 50 percent transit subsidy.

“I would love more trains. I would hope that more frequent trains would lead to increased ridership,” Dalton said. “I think for people who have obligations to drop off, say, kids at school who live in New York City — I often am unable to do that most days. If there were more frequent trains that got here quickly, I could do that.”

Noah Zahn GS, the facilities officer of the Graduate Student Government, noted that rail transit is important for commuting graduate students. 

“There are a sizable portion of graduate students that do commute … graduate students will commute to work, and I think they very much appreciate the opportunity to live throughout the state of New Jersey or in this general Northeast Corridor. Public transit really makes that an option for them,” Zahn said. 

Izzie Furrick GS, a first-year graduate student in the chemical and biological engineering department, travels to New York city weekly. She said that she would also appreciate greater consistency.

“You cannot expect New Jersey Transit to get you where you need to be on time … I think it would be really, really helpful for commuters — and for, you know, people, even just those who go into the city for leisure — to have the trains running at more regular intervals,” Furrick said. 

“[One of] Princeton’s recruiting tools, for example, is the proximity to Philadelphia and New York, and it was something that was a bit jarring for me, when I actually became a student here, I didn’t realize what a monumental effort it is to actually access New York City. That’s been an adjustment for me and for my friends as well,” Furrick said. 

The first phase of the project, the new Portal North Bridge, will be complete in the fall of 2026, after its second track is placed. The old bridge caused frequent delays, as its low clearance meant that maritime traffic required the bridge to be opened. Passengers are already benefiting from reduced delays — the first cutover onto the new fixed-span bridge occurred in March. 

Sophia Hopper is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’ She is from Raleigh, N.C. and can be reached at sh1943[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.