It’s been an almost two-year wait for a critical federal decision that would allow a project to build two new $9.5 billion rail tunnels under the Hudson River to proceed to the next step.

After Monday’s NJ Transit commuting meltdown, a group of eight U.S. Senators are fed up with the delay.

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, a ranking member of the Senate’s transit subcommittee, and Cory Booker, D- NJ, joined six others demanding the Federal Railroad Administration act on plans to advance the Hudson Tunnel Project, a critical element of the Gateway Project.

The FRA blew a self-imposed deadline of March 30, 2018 to act on the Environmental Impact Statement for the tunnel project, which was submitted in July 2017.

The delay was criticized by eight senators representing states on Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor line which links Boston and Washington D.C., in a letter to the FRA obtained by NJ Advance Media.

The most recent criticism of the delays came after an Amtrak overhead wire problem on Monday evening required the shutdown of one of two existing 110-year tunnels, causing 90-minute NJ Transit rail delays. Trains in the tunnel had to back out to New Jersey.

That caused commuters’ trips to balloon to several hours, including one train load of passengers that spent four hours trying to get between Secaucus and New York. Amtrak and NJ Transit officials said two additional tunnels would have eased the severity of the delays and overcrowding commuters experienced.

FRA officials have failed to give specifics on when it would finalize and approve the study and issue a final Record of Decision that would allow the Tunnel Project to move into the design and construction phases. The also haven’t given a reason for the delay.

“It is unacceptable that we have yet to receive a definite timeline for completion of the environmental review,” the senators wrote to FRA Administrator Ronald Batory. “We implore you to provide an update on when we can expect a final EIS and ROD for the Hudson Tunnel Project – including confirmation of the remaining steps necessary to move the project into the design and construction phases.”

An FRA official said the agency would respond directly to the Senators’ letter.

The tunnel project would construct two new tubes between Penn Station New York and New Jersey and rehabilitate damage to the old tunnels from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Ironically, the environmental review was fast tracked, recognizing that the old tunnels could be shut down for repair, only to languish for almost two years after the draft study was submitted in July 2017.

“These tubes are old and in need of significant rehabilitation. If they are forced to close, the region would grind to a standstill, and the nation’s economy would suffer immensely,” the senators wrote.

Delays also increase the cost of the project, the senators wrote. A May 2019 Regional Plan Association report warned of a commuting nightmare if one of the two tunnels had to be closed for emergency repairs and blow to the regional and national economy because of lost productivity.

Currently, 450 trains use the tunnels daily to and from Penn Station in New York.

Last September, Gateway supporters unveiled a count up clock, showing how many days have passed the FRA’s March 2018 deadline. As of Thursday morning, it has been 677 days since the deadline passed.

The Gateway Project has been a political football between the Trump administration, which has tried to block funding for it and gave it a low ranking for federal grants, despite having received high rankings previously from the FRA.

The senators asked for a detailed explanation of what steps remain in the review process, an estimated timeline for completing each step and when a final Record of Decision will be issued.