The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) has begun excavation of the Hudson Tunnel Project’s new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, with its first tunnel boring machine (TBM) starting work on schedule.
A second TBM is set to begin operations in the coming weeks, GDC said in a statement on 8 October 2026.
These two machines will excavate the first 5,100ft of tunnel tubes in New Jersey, stretching from the tunnel portal in North Bergen to the Hudson County Access Shaft at the Weehawken-Hoboken border.
Upon completion of this segment, both TBMs will be replaced with a different pair built to address mixed ground conditions under the river.
According to the GDC, each TBM is designed to advance approximately 30ft per day, accounting for regular maintenance pauses.
The schedule anticipates it will take about one year to complete this initial section of tunnelling.
GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said: “When the first tunnel boring machine’s cutterhead bit into the rock face in the launch box, GDC reached the most significant Hudson Tunnel Project delivery milestone to date on schedule.
“This is a major achievement that would not have been possible without the hundreds of people who have worked together to plan, design and build the infrastructure and equipment needed for this incredible machine to do what it was made to do.
“GDC, our partners, and the workers on our construction sites will continue to bring the same dedication and grit that enabled us to reach this key milestone on schedule to the project every day until we deliver the reliable rail system Americans deserve.”
The machines employed for this first stage are single shield TBMs engineered specifically for hard, dry rock conditions.
Each machine features a cutterhead with a diameter of 28ft 8in and trailing gantries extending roughly 500ft in length.
Weighing more than 1,680t, the machines are capable of simultaneously excavating and placing the tunnel lining, constructed from precast concrete segments as they move forward.
Excavated rock is broken up by disc cutters in the spinning cutterhead, collected and removed along a conveyor belt running through the body of the TBM.
Construction for this initial segment, known as the Palisades Tunnel Project package, also includes work on the Hudson County Access Shaft.
The Schiavone Lane Dragados joint venture leads this phase, while the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is overseeing project delivery in partnership with GDC.
Designed to address long-standing rail congestion and service disruption issues, the broader Hudson Tunnel Project is divided into ten distinct construction packages, with further tunnelling operations to follow after the completion of this critical first stage.
The excavation comes after GDC celebrated the start of tunnel boring for the Hudson Tunnel Project on 28 September 2026.
