Progress on the Hudson Tunnel Project from NJ to NY: Video
Here’s a tour of progress made on the Hudson Tunnel Project for two new passenger train tunnels from New Jersey to New York on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
A train route from Hoboken to Los Angeles? The private company AmeriStarRail wants to make it possible with a route that would take the cross-country trip in less than three days.
The Delaware-based company proposed a private-public partnership with Amtrak, the nation’s railroad provider, for a route called The Transcontinental Chief, which will take travelers across the country.
ASR’s proposed route’s plan is to be in operation by May 10, 2026, just before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The journey from New Jerey to California will begin in Hoboken. Those in New York who would want to make the cross-country trip would need to take the PATH train to the Garden State.
A direct stop cannot be made at New York’s Penn Station due to “restrictions for the bilevel Superliners,” according to the private railroad company.
The private train corporation said the new route would decrease delays and have the capacity to carry cars, vans, motorcycles, RVs, charter motorcoaches and tractor-trailers.
“ASR proprietary operating techniques will help prevent the chronic train delays and service disruptions of Amtrak’s previous inefficient operation of lengthy trains for Mail and Express services,” said ASR in their letter to the federal government.
The private sector train company said it would like to make Amtrak profitable. Amtrak never operated for-profit and uses government subsidies for funds and operations.
Amtrak’s current railroads offer two rail services that go coast to coast with pit stops in Chicago, Harrisburg and Reading. ASRl said The Transcontinental Chief would replace those Amtrak rails.
The proposed train would take travelers from Hoboken to Harrisburg, and then it would begin the “combined train” route to Los Angeles with stops also to major cities such as Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Albuquerque, New Mexico. AmeriStarRail’s plan also consists of a separate line that will take people from Harrisburg to Washington, D.C., with a stop in Philadelphia. Other lines from Amtrak would still be operation under the proposed plan.
The company hopes to give an advantage to truck drivers as the cross-country train would serve as a “rolling truck stop solution for truckers to rest onboard Amtrak trains while covering 200 – 500 miles during their required 10-hour rest period,” says the rail company’s proposed plan.
Some have documented their Amtrak travel from New York to Los Angeles as one person did in a YouTube video from the channel Trek Trendy.
Amtrak did not respond to comment requests from USA TODAY. Nothing has been confirmed about these proposed plans.