RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces New Action to Protect the Gateway Train Project

Above: Outside the Glen Rock Boro Hall Train Station, Gottheimer announces new action to defend the Gateway Project.

GLEN ROCK, NJ — Today, October 23, 2025, joined by New Jersey labor workers and local leaders at the Glen Rock Boro Hall Train Station, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced new federal action to protect the critical Gateway Train Tunnel project from threats of termination from President Trump and his Administration — a move that would severely impact commuters, continue to drive up travel times and costs, and deliver a massive blow to the economy.

Gottheimer secured funding for the Gateway Project in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, which he helped write, negotiate, pass, and get signed into law in 2021. The Gateway Project — which helps create more than 95,000 jobs — will add two new tunnels under the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York, and fix the existing crumbling 115-year-old tunnels. 20% of the nation’s GDP runs through the Northeast Corridor. More than 200,000 passengers rely on these tunnels every day, and closing one tube could cost the U.S. economy $100 million per day. Currently, New Jersey has the third-worst commute times in the country. 

New Action to Defend the Gateway Project:

• Members of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation Calling on President Trump and Transportation Sec. Duffy to Keep the Gateway Project on Track: Gottheimer sent a letter, with every Democrat in the New Jersey House delegation and U.S. Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ), to President Trump and Transportation Secretary Duffy demanding the Administration stop the attack on Jersey commuters and the economy, and to immediately restore funding for the Gateway Project without any delays. Find the letter here.

• Urging the U.S. Department of Labor and Key Congressional Committees to Support the Gateway Project & the 95,000+ Jobs it Creates: Gottheimer is sending a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation calling on them to fight to protect the hard-working men and women of labor and the more than 95,000 jobs the Gateway Project helps create, and to ensure this critical infrastructure investment moves forward.

• NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak Detailing the Current Risks: Gottheimer is calling on NJ Transit and Amtrak to fully outline to Congress the impacts of the government shutdown on the Gateway Project, the impacts of cutting off funding on the project’s timeline, the impacts on transportation in the region, how long the current 115-year-old tunnels can survive, what would happen if an existing tunnel collapses or becomes inoperable, how commuters would get to work, and the impacts on families and the economy of terminating the project.

Video of today’s press conference can be found here.

“If he goes through with it, President Trump’s impulsive, rash, and ridiculous decision to terminate the Gateway Project would be a sledgehammer to families, to our economy, to American competitiveness, and to tens of thousands of labor jobs — including the brothers and sisters of labor who are standing here with me — the best men and women of labor in the country. They have already been making huge progress on getting our state back on track with Gateway, but if Trump doesn’t reverse himself and allow the funding of Gateway to continue, we would have a huge disaster on our hands for Jersey and our country,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “We can’t afford another year of crumbling bridges, roads, and tunnels, and failed transportation. We can’t allow this shutdown to go on, putting at risk all of these projects — including the Gateway Train Tunnel. We spent decades kicking the can down the road and are just now finally starting to fix the crumbling pieces. We can’t just let partisan politics swallow up our progress.”

Gottheimer was joined today by Hudson County Labor & Trades President Patrick Kelleher, NJ Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (LD-38), NJ Assemblywoman Shama Haider (LD-37), Glen Rock Police Chief Dean Ackermann, Glen Rock Councilman Seth Rosenstein, Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio, Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna, Dockbuilders Timbermen Local 1556, IBEW 164, Teamsters Local 560, Plumbers Local 24, SMART Local 137/167, Ironworkers Local 11, Labor and Trades Council, LIUNA 3, Pipefitters 274, Sheet Metal Workers 25, Eastern Atlantic States Council of Carpenters, both Hudson County and Bergen County Central Labor and Trade Councils, Senator Andy Kim’s office, and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill’s office.

Below: Gottheimer defending the Gateway Tunnel Project, joined by Hudson County Labor & Trades President Patrick Kelleher, as well as labor and local leaders.

Gottheimer’s full remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

Good morning. It’s great to be with you all here in Glen Rock, including the men and women of labor. 

It is day twenty-three of the government shutdown, day twenty-three of flight cancellations and delays, day twenty-three of frozen infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges, and President Trump won’t even take a meeting with us to try to end the shutdown and reopen the government. Health insurance premiums will be up, on average, eighteen percent or more next year, and we have a way to help bring down premiums for millions. If we don’t fix it, scores of Jersey families won’t be able to afford their health insurance — others will have their premiums go up by $20,000 in one year for a family of four. 

The White House has even said this shutdown is costing our country fifteen billion dollars in lost GDP every week. Yet, Trump won’t even meet with us to work on a deal to reopen the government — he seems to be interested in just slashing and burning the place down. Between the shutdown and the President’s threats, 18 billion dollars of key infrastructure projects around the tri-state area are at risk of being canceled or massively delayed. The biggest one for us: the 115-year-old train tunnel underneath the Hudson. Just last week, during the government shutdown, Trump uttered the unthinkable — that the Gateway project was “terminated.”   

As a reminder, after years of fighting for it, the Gateway Train Tunnel project broke ground in 2023, and will ultimately add two new train tunnels under the Hudson River, and fix the existing two crumbling ones — adding significant new rail capacity for Jersey families. It’s how NJ Transit and Amtrak trains get from Jersey into New York, carrying two hundred thousand commuters to work and home every day —  those traveling to see friends, loved ones, or go to a doctor’s appointment. 

It’s a key connection point for twenty percent of our nation’s GDP — it’s the only way in or out of New York for Jersey commuter trains. And, as many of you know and experience, New Jersey has the third-worst commute times in the country. Building these new tunnels is key to helping fix that.

The tunnels were completed in 1908 and became operational in 1910, when Teddy Roosevelt was the president — they desperately need this update.

If he goes through with it, President Trump’s impulsive, rash, and ridiculous decision to terminate the Gateway Project would be a sledgehammer to families, to our economy, to American competitiveness, and to tens of thousands of labor jobs — including the brothers and sisters of labor who are standing here with me — the best men and women of labor in the country.

The Gateway Project helps create more than 95,000 jobs, plus it will create thousands more with all the businesses it will attract to Jersey. This is an investment that will not only help fix the tunnels, but also build the Portal North bridge that leads to them, and it’s a project that has massive bipartisan support — and that was approved and funded by Congress in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that I proudly helped write, negotiate, and pass back in 2021. Trump’s only role is to sign the paperwork, to keep the ongoing project on track, and he’s apparently decided to just tear it up. We can’t let him just blow up the project, and that’s why we’re here today — to help stop him.

To put a finer point on it, right now, there are only two tunnels going into the city — one in, one out. So, we can only get twenty-four trains in and out of New York City in an hour — and less than half that on weekends, when one of the ancient tunnels is usually down for repairs. That’s outrageous. If one of those tunnels were to completely collapse, God forbid, or even just go out of service, it would have a devastating impact on our economy, the region, and the entire country. 

Closing one tube would cost the U.S. economy $100 million per day — or $36.5 billion per year — including the impact on jobs and home values. The latest data showed that trains passing through the North River Tunnel were delayed nearly two out of every three days. The number one cause of delays was faulty infrastructure. The hardworking men and women of labor I’m proudly standing with today have already been making huge progress on getting our state back on track with Gateway: construction on the new tunnel is on pace to be completed by 2035, and by 2038 for the full rehabilitation of the existing two tunnels. 

They’ve been using saved-up dollars to keep the project turned on, but if Trump doesn’t reverse himself and allow the funding of Gateway to continue, we would have a huge disaster on our hands for Jersey and our country. Our competitors on the international stage understand how important infrastructure investment is to productivity. France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom spend about double as much as we do on transportation infrastructure, while China spends ten times more, by percentage of GDP. 

Our infrastructure is rated seventh in the world. That’s unacceptable for the greatest country in the world. We should be number one. We can’t get there or see these great benefits for our economy by shutting down critical projects like Gateway. We can’t entice 21st-century companies to set up shop and grow or stay here with 20th-century infrastructure. We spent decades kicking the can down the road. We are just now finally starting to fix the crumbling pieces. We can’t just let partisan politics swallow up our progress. That’s why I’m announcing new action to protect the Gateway Train Tunnel and other key infrastructure projects.

First, along with the New Jersey Democratic delegation, I just sent a letter to President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy demanding that the Administration stop this attack on Jersey commuters and our country’s economy, and to immediately restore funding for the Gateway Train Tunnel. They must keep this vital project on track without any additional delays. Any other path is insane.

Second, I’m sending a letter to the Secretary of Labor and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committees in both the House and Senate calling on them to stand with us in our fight to protect the hard-working men and women of labor, to fix our country’s crumbling infrastructure, and to ensure the Trump Administration ends all this chaos — instead of ending Gateway.

Finally, I’m asking NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak to fully outline for Congress the current and potential impact of the shutdown on the Gateway Project, the effects of cutting off funding on the project’s timeline, and what it will mean for transportation in the region. How long can the current tunnels survive, and what will we do if they go down? How will people get to work? In other words, we need a full sense from those on the ground of how halting this critical project will affect not just their pocketbooks, but also the lives of our families.

The bottom line is: You can’t have a first-rate state — like New Jersey — with second-class infrastructure. Besides, completing the Gateway Project shouldn’t be a partisan issue, it’s an American issue. We can’t afford to wait any longer. We can’t afford another year of crumbling bridges, roads, and tunnels, and failed transportation. We can’t allow this shutdown to go on, putting at risk all of these projects — including the Gateway Train Tunnel. 

That’s why I’ve called on the Speaker to bring the House back into session every single week until we figure this out. It’s why the President needs to sit down with us and work it out. And, it’s why I’ve been working with both my Republican and Democratic colleagues, in the House and Senate, to find a way to open it up. 

I’m confident that by working together in a bipartisan, common-sense way, we will, once and for all, get this done. 

If we do that, I know our best days will always be ahead. God bless you, God bless our first responders and troops, and may God continue to bless and watch over the United States of America.

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