President Biden’s infrastructure bill will send more than 12 billion dollars to New Jersey, for the long-delayed Gateway Project among other things.
The project will double train capacity into New York City along the Northeast Corridor rail line between Newark and Manhattan.
Greg Lalevee is the business manager for the union that is training workers for Gateway. He said the project will help not only train riders but the environment.
“We’re looking at hundreds of thousands of commuters in and out of New York City on a daily basis,” he said, “just having a smoother ride and more trains available which means the potential of getting more cars off the road.”
He said some older workers are so enthusiastic about Gateway that they’re rethinking retirement.
Lalevee said the project will mean jobs for thousands.
“We’re seeing a generational investment and a generational opportunity to create good-paying construction jobs to expand the number of people that make it into the middle class,” he said.
Lalevee singled out the most challenging part of the training.
“Technology is moving so fast, that just to keep a handle on new and emerging technologies, how it changes the nature of work,” is the challenge, he said.