Trans Hudson Express Tunnel (THE Tunnel), Preliminary Engineering Phase

New Jersey Transit

AVA’s Role: Anil Verma Associates, Inc. (AVA), as a subconsultant to the Parsons Brinkerhoff/DMJM Harris/STV Group Joint Venture team, was part of the design team responsible for preparing plans and specifications for the Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel (THE Tunnel), which was planned beneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City. The project included the associated tunnel structures and a new 34th Street Station in New York City that would serve as the project’s northern terminus. AVA’s responsibilities included architectural design for the underground station, mid-tunnel ventilation structures, and ancillary equipment rooms.

The Tunnel

Description:  New Jersey Transit’s Trans-Hudson Express Tunnel project was planned to extend from Frank R. Lautenberg Station in Secaucus, New Jersey, to Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in Manhattan. In New Jersey, the alignment would run parallel to New Jersey Transit’s Northeast Corridor (NEC) Line. Designed exclusively for passenger rail service, the project included six new fan plants—three in New Jersey and three in Manhattan—a new track connection between the Main, Bergen County, and Pascack Valley Lines and the NEC at Secaucus Junction, a new rail storage yard in Kearny, New Jersey, and two new tunnels beneath the Palisades. The project also included two new single-track tunnels beneath the Hudson River connecting to a new facility beneath 34th Street, with passenger connections to the existing Penn Station complex and New York City Transit. These improvements were planned to supplement the existing two-track tunnel and four-track railroad between Secaucus and New York City.