Return of Gateway rail tunnel funds starts

Federal government releases $30 million

By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Frozen federal dollars for the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project have begun to thaw.
..... The Gateway Development Commission, the bistate agency overseeing the massive 15-year tunnel construction and rehab program beneath the Hudson River, said it received an intimal disbursement of $30 million from the federal government on the evening of February 13 [2026] - the first payment since September 30. [2025]
..... "GDC is grateful to New York and New Jersey for their support in restoring our access to the federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project,' said Jake McNichol, a spokesman for the commission.
..... Construction remains paused for now, and we are working with our contractors to plan how to deploy these funds in the most effective way and get works back on the job to resume some construction as soon as possible," McNichol said.
..... The release of funds comes after lawyers for New York , New Jersey and the federal government had a 3 PM. conference February 13 [2026] with Jeannette Vargas, the federal judge assigned to the case in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
..... During that conference, the Trump administration agreed to start providing those dollars once again.
..... Construction on five project sites in New Jersey, New York and Manhattan paused February 6 [2026] after the Gateway commission ran out of money from the federal government and a credit facility it had been tapping into once the freeze began four months ago.
..... As a result, 1,000 workers were laid off, sites were "demobilized," and the Gateway commission estimated it would spend about $20 million a month to store heavy equipment and secure the project areas.
..... "Because of our efforts, the Department of Transpiration is finally delivering the gateway project funds it has been unlawfully freezing for months," Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey's acting attorney general, said in a February 13 [2026] statement.
..... "When we fight, we win," Davenport said. "We will always stand up for the Gateway project, for New Jerseyans, and for our workers from attacks out of Washington.
..... The Gateway project involves constructing a new two-track rail tunnel between North Jersey and Manhattan Peen Station to improve service, and then rehabilitate the 116-year-old tunnel currently in use.
..... NJ Transit and Amtrak rides 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 form corrosive salt water during Superstrom Sandy in 2012.

How we got here

..... Here's a timeline of what has happened in the courts in February: [2026]
..... February 2: [2026] The Gateway commission sued the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of Federal claims for breach of contract and to release the funds.
..... February 3: [2026] The states of New York and New Jersey sued the Trump administration in a separate lawsuit in federal district court, seeking a temporary restraining order that would require funds to flow while litigation played out.
..... February 6: Vargas heard oral arguments from the states and federal government and later that evening singed off an a 14-page temporary restraining order. This is the same day construction on all five construction sites stopped.
..... February 9: [2026] the federal government appealed Vagas' decision, which she denied, but granted them until February 12 [2026] at 5 PM. to appeal her denial in the Second Circuit U.S. Appeals Court.
..... February 12: [2026] The 5 PM deadline came and went with no intervention form the Second Circuit, but a clerk for the court referred the motion to a panel that would hear the cans no earlier than February 23. [2026]

Next steps

..... Governor Mikie Sherrill held a February 13 [2026] press conference in Secacus Junction train station to declare victory over the Trump administration and said she would continue taking him to court if the money is not released.
..... "We're her today [02/13/2026] to begin with because we won and we're gong to keep on winning because it;s illegal what the president did," Sherrill said. "It;s way past time that the president releases the Gateway tunnel funds, he's illegally stopped them. the courts have spoken, and now it's time for people to get back to work."
..... However, it's unclear how quickly construction can resume once the full $205 million owed is released. Contractors will likely need more assurances about continuity of funding if they are going to fully remobilizes their construction sites.

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