Gateway workers returning to jobs
Rail tunnel project gets back nearly 1,000 who were laid off
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Shovels are returning to the ground and snow at the Gateway rail tunnel project site in North Jersey and Manhattan.
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The nearly 1,000 workers who were laid off February 6 [2026] will return to work this week, [02/26/2026] said the Gateway Development Commission, the bistate agency overseeing the project.
..... The layoffs occurred because the commission ran out of money after the Trump administration withhold some $205 million in federal reimbursements over the last four months.
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That money was restored after the Gateway commission and the states of New York and New Jersey filed two lawsuits in separate federal courts accusing the Trump administration of breach of contract and irreparable harm.
..... "This is great news of these workers, the hundreds of thousands of rider s who toke the train to New York City every day, and the entire region, but we cannot take our eyes off the ball," Alicia Glen, a co-chair of the Gateway commission's board, said in a statement on February 24. [2026]
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"We need every federal dollar accounted for in our grant and loan agreements to build this tunnel," Glen said. About $15 billion of the $16 billion program involves federal grants and federal loans.
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In the weeks since construction was paused, politicians and laborers have held multiple rallies, spoken at public meetings and raised awareness about the effects of the pause on social media.
..... At least three members of Congress from New York and New Jersey invited laid-off Gateway laborers to join the as guests at President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech on February 24. [2026]
..... Balpreet Grewal-Virk, a co-chair of the Gateway commission, thanked everyone for the support they're shown the program these past few weeks.
..... "We are incredibly thankful for Governor Sherrill, New Jersey's congressional delegation, and the many other leaders who have called on the administration to stop delaying the most urgent infrastructure project in the country," Grewal-Virk said in a statement.
..... "We're seeing the results of this effort now, as hundreds of workers go back to our construction sites," Grewal-Virk said.
..... The Gateway project involves constructing a new two-track rail tunnel between North Jersey and New York Penn Station to improve service and then rehabilitating the 116-year-old tunnel currently in use.
..... NJ Transit and Amtrak riders, who take trains that use the old tunnel routinely deal with delays, cancellations and unreliable commutes because of the tunnel's age, as well as the damage from corrosive salt water during Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
..... Work will resume at the Tonnelle Avenue sites in North Bergen in the Hudson River, at the 12th Avenue site in Manhattan and at a project site on the Weekhawken-Hoboken border.
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Among the most pressing matter is putting together the tunnel boring machine,a behemoth that arrived in multiple parts in January. [2026]
..... It needs to be assembled so that excavation can begin this spring [2026] and make room on the property for a second tunnel boring machine that is ready to be shipped in parts form Germany.
.... The costs of the delays caused by the Trump administration's freeze on the money are not fully known, but the Gateway commission said the agency is delaying the award of two important contracts.
..... Those contracts are for future phases of work on the tunnel and the rail alignment with Secacucus Junction station to New Jersey.
..... Awarding those contracts previously scheduled for late 2025 and early 2026 will remain on hold until they "regain access to all 415 billion in federal grants and loans," the Gateway commission said in a statement.