The Governor of New York has detailed his intention to seek private bids for the Hudson Tunnel project. The project concerns the construction of a new rail tunnel underneath the Hudson River, which separates Hudson County, New Jersey from Midtown Manhattan, New York, and the rehabilitation of the existing North River Tunnel, a two-track rail tunnel.

The only cost estimates for the project have been prepared by Amtrak, a quasi-public passenger rail service operator, as Amtrak owns the North River Tunnel. These estimates are not seen as reliable, thus the New York Governor is advocating requesting this information from private parties.

The governor has proposed to set up a corporation comprised of three representatives, one from New Jersey, one from New York and one from the federal government to manage the bidding process. The next steps would include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey working with the federal government Department of Transportation to establish some security for potential bidders regarding the project's future, and thus that participating in the procurement process is worth their time and investment.

The governor detailed these ideas in a meeting with President Trump in a bid to secure federal funding for the project. The Trump Administration has so far been resistant to providing any funding, downgrading the project's application to the Capital Investment Grants Program to Medium-Low earlier this year. It is widely accepted that the project cannot be delivered without some level of federal support.