The estimated cost to build new Hudson River rail tunnels has increased to a total of $12.9 billion, and is approaching the $14 billion highest cost projection for the canceled ARC tunnel, according to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the Federal Railroad Administration Thursday morning.

The report put construction of two new tunnels at $11.2 billion and the cost to rehabilitate the existing 106-year-old rail tunnels at $1.7 billion, said John Porcari, interim executive director of the Gateway Development Corporation.

Porcari cautioned that the cost goes up with every day of delay. It is more than a 2016 estimate, which put tunnel construction at $7.7 billion.

Gov. Chris Christie canceled the ARC tunnel project in October 2010 due to concerns that the $8.7 billion project cost could hit a projected $14.7 billion with overruns that the state would have to pay for.

That $12.9 billion price does not include replacement of the 106-year old Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River in Kearny, which is also being advanced as part of the first phase of the larger Gateway Project.

New York and New Jersey would pay half of the estimated $24 billion to build the entire Gateway Project and federal funding would cover the rest.

It would build a "Penn Station south" annex, two new sets of Northeast Corridor tracks between the tunnels and Secaucus and a loop for Bergen County trains to access the NEC.

A final Environmental Report, a decision on that report and permits to work in the river from the U.S. Army Corps. Of Engineers is expected by March 2018, Porcari said.

Full construction could start in 2019, if the project is funded. While use of a public-private partnership is being explored, Porcari said that the project will not get done without federal funding.



The dead ARC project is helping Gateway from beyond the grave. The project recycles a new overpass constructed to carry Routes 1& 9 in North Bergen over the tunnel mouth and the preferred route selected in the DEIS is the former ARC route, said Craig Schulz, an Amtrak spokesman.

"(It's an) important part of why we've been able to expedite (the DEIS)," he said

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.