NEW YORK — The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has vowed to get a new rail tunnel built to connect New York and New Jersey, the Associated Press reports.

Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) made the pledge in comments at New York’s Penn Station as he and other members of his committee prepared to tour Amtrak’s 109-year-old tunnel under the Hudson River and other rail infrastructure in the area. The proposed new tunnel, with an estimated cost of $13 billion, is one component of the Gateway Project which would upgrade infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor. The project is bogged down in political infighting. [See “Gateway Project idles while politicans dispute progress,” Trains News Wire, April 11, 2019.]

DeFazio said the House could waive certain environmental requirements, allowing the project to move forward. “We don’t normally do that,” he said, “but I find it hard to believe there’s a negative impact.”

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders met and agreed in broad terms on the need for major infrastructure spending [see “Trump, Democrats agree: $2 trillion needed for infrastructure,” Trains News Wire, April 30, 2019]. But it is too soon to say if the tunnel project might be included.