by electricron
R&DB wrote: ↑Tue Feb 18, 2020 8:53 am Gateway, Portal and Moynihan projects all impact every state from MA to FL to LA. So the assertion that it is only a NY/NJ thing is false. Every rail passenger who travels through the North River tunnels should be screaming at their congress critters and state politicos every day to get these projects done. And if they don't, then we can play DEAL! (Don't Elect Any Incumbents)Of course there are Amtrak trains with passengers on them from as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, but how many of them is the question to ask when determining what share Amtrak should pay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylva ... rk_City%29
Here are 2017 facts from Wiki for Pennsylvania Station share:
69,722,560 Annually (LIRR)
27,296,100 Annually (NJT)
10,397,729 Annually (Amtrak)
One could easily argue that Amtrak share is less than 11% for Pennsylvania Station.
Math = 10,397,729 / (68,722,560 + 27,296,100) = 10,397,729 / 96,018,660 = 10.8
If you make the argument that the North River tunnels have zero LIRR passengers, Amtrak share for the tunnels is less than 39%. Math = 20,397.729 / 27,286,100 = 38.1
One could just as easily make the argument that all three governments should share the costs equally, 33.3% each.
But somehow, NY and NJ politicians deciding amongst themselves that the US government should fund 50% of the new tunnels cost, additionally covering 100% of any cost overruns; yet some wonder why the US government under both Democrats and Republicans administrations have balked at paying so much?