![Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Dec. 29 announced that construction work on the Hudson River rail tunnel project connecting Penn Station New York and New Jersey will commence “in the coming months on the Manhattan side,” according to the New York Daily News. (Amtrak Photo)](https://www.railwayage.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Screen-Shot-2021-12-02-at-6.32.10-AM-315x168.png)
Transit Briefs: Gateway, LIRR, SMART
Construction on the Hudson River rail tunnels, part of the Gateway Program in New York and New Jersey, will advance with a $292 million Mega grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Also, MTA Long Island Rail Road’s Grand Central Madison will not open by the end of the year, as planned; and California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) will receive $1.8 million in Community Project Funding under the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 23.