By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Next stop, Secaucus?
City officials are exploring extending the 7 line all the way into New Jersey, following Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to kill a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
The proposed extension would be the subway's first foray across the river and into another state.
"Extending the 7 line to New Jersey could address many of the region's transportation capacity issues at a fraction of the original tunnel's cost, but the idea is still in its earliest stages," said Andrew Brent, a spokesperson for Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel.
"Like others, we're looking at — and open to discussing — creative, fiscally responsible alternatives," he said.
The plan under consideration would extend the 7 train from 34th Street in Midtown to Secaucus, N.J., where it would connect to New Jersey Transit, the New York Times reported.
The extension would cost an estimated $5.3 billion, the paper said — about half the price of the killed Access to the Region’s Core, which would have created two new commuter tunnels under the Hudson River into an expanded Penn Station.
Christie pulled the plug on the project last month after weeks of deliberation, citing spiraling costs that he warned would have bankrupted the state.
Bringing the subway into New Jersey would be significantly cheaper than having to dig a brand new tunnel from Penn Station because the city has already dug a 7-train extension west to 11th Avenue.
The 7 train's new 11th Avenue station is set to open by 2013.
