Gateway clears it's last Federal approval

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 7:27 pm west point, is there any contingency plans should one tunnel cave in?

It's happened before. NJT service gets cut and redirected to Hoboken. PATH and ferries get overloaded, and some bus service is added. Amtrak takes up most of the 6 trains per hour slots. It gets ugly real quick and affects the entire NEC.

Is it true that Gateway won't feed current Penn Station and yards? NYDN says it only will feed the future Penn South.

With the general fall-off in commuter traffic, a tunnel failure forcing NJT and Amtrak to reduce traffic into Penn might be viewed by the accountants as a benefit...

I've been wondering about post-COVID commuter operations. If a general pattern of a three-day work week (Tu-We-Th) materializes, the same physical resources will be needed as for a five-day week, but with less revenue; i.e., the peak-hour demand on those three days will be much the same as for five days pre-COVID.

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 7:23 pm Managing the grift, or actual project management? There is something called "The joint New York and New Jersey Gateway Development Commission".

The commissioners seem to be heavy on political appointees and low on applicable knowledge. https://www.gatewayprogram.org/aboutthe ... ion-2.html Of the two co-chairs one is a health executive and the other is a lawyer. Of the five other commissioners three are lawyers and one is an engineer.

Scary.

@CLamb Ugh. I hear NJT is like that too, but far worse.

@photobug I think I remember reading somewhere that the new tunnels would be for the entire station. Not sure why they’d only be for those new tracks. Especially if they want to close the existing tunnels for repairs after opening the new ones

Thanks for the replies to my inquiry guys.

You make more sense the NYDN!

Bracdude181 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 2:52 am @CLamb Ugh. I hear NJT is like that too, but far worse.

@photobug I think I remember reading somewhere that the new tunnels would be for the entire station. Not sure why they’d only be for those new tracks. Especially if they want to close the existing tunnels for repairs after opening the new ones

Thanks for the replies to my inquiry guys.

If I remember correctly, the new tunnels would come through Yard A (requiring it be rebuilt) and will have connections between track 1 and track 18...

...ah, found it out of the EIS.

So sounds and looks like NYDN got it wrong in their editorial. While I can accept that someday they may find a way to do a few extra tracks to the South, and for that, build stubs for them, only doing it for a South station would, IMHO, be beyond absurd.

Thanks!

photobug56 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:16 pm Is it true that Gateway won't feed current Penn Station and yards? NYDN says it only will feed the future Penn South.

That is not my understanding, at least after the existing two tunnels are rehabilitated so their are 4 tracks. The majority of serious delays result from one of the two existing tracks out of service due to train breakdown, etc. With 4 tracks it is my understanding that if one track is closed two will be used in the busier direction and one in the other resulting in no delays. Perhaps the writer of the article was confused with the cancelled former ARC project that would have built two new tunnels to a deep station located next to Penn Station but with no rail interconnectivity.

NY Daily News editorial! As to ARC, a better name would have been Train to Macy's Cellar.

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:40 pm I've been wondering about post-COVID commuter operations. If a general pattern of a three-day work week (Tu-We-Th) materializes, the same physical resources will be needed as for a five-day week, but with less revenue; i.e., the peak-hour demand on those three days will be much the same as for five days pre-COVID.

That is inconsistent with reports that many employers have already substantially reduced office and related space and will spread employee time in the office over the 5 days thus allowing for far less very costly office and auxiliary space. Many employers intend to do likewise when the leases are up for renewal. The in office workforce would remain essentially the same every day, roughly half of pre-covid levels on any given day.

I've been hearing it both ways. Big issues; in person meetings, cafeterias. On the opposite side, 'hotel' seating, which works much better if the 3 days in is spread over all 5 days. Another thing; employees needing something like doctor's appointments.

In a pre Covid job, when I had certain health issues, for a while I was fully remote, then came in 2 days per week, usually selected for vendor meetings, visitors from other cities, lectures and for a time, chasing down signatures on paper. I got far more done on days I was remote, but I liked the 2 days for personal reasons (like my fav Chinese fast food place). During the last several months I shared a 'space' with unknown others. The one downside is that the bank in question had old, out of date equipment and very poor support.

Ken W2KB wrote: ↑Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:23 pm

ExCon90 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:40 pm I've been wondering about post-COVID commuter operations. If a general pattern of a three-day work week (Tu-We-Th) materializes, the same physical resources will be needed as for a five-day week, but with less revenue; i.e., the peak-hour demand on those three days will be much the same as for five days pre-COVID.

That is inconsistent with reports that many employers have already substantially reduced office and related space and will spread employee time in the office over the 5 days thus allowing for far less very costly office and auxiliary space. Many employers intend to do likewise when the leases are up for renewal. The in office workforce would remain essentially the same every day, roughly half of pre-covid levels on any given day.

My company is trying that and there is some serious pushback from everyone who isn't in the executive class. Right now space is so tight with this plan, there are only about 10 desks out of 300 that are free for flex. So if you need to have extra people in(inter-departmental collaboration), you end up with un-desked people being shoved into corners. Same deal if you have more than 10 people who want to switch the day they're in so they can keep an appointment near their home without having to sacrifice an entire sick/PTO day for an hour at the dentist.