NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- The largest mass transit project in the country got under way Monday with the help of federal stimulus dollars , as public officials broke ground on a second passenger rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River . Work on the country 's largest mass transit project began Monday . The new tunnel will link New Jersey with New York and eventually will double capacity on the nation 's busiest rail corridor , running from Washington to Boston , Massachusetts , officials said . Officials participated in the groundbreaking for the $ 8.7 billion project as commuter trains passed behind them in North Bergen , New Jersey , before entering the existing train tunnel , which went into operation in 1908 . `` As we start digging this tunnel , I think that what really it means , we are digging our way out of an economic crisis , '' said Sen. Bob Menendez , D-New Jersey . `` As we 're getting under way , we 're seeing the dividends of the Recovery Act being paid right now . '' The Department of Transportation announced Monday that it will commit $ 3 billion to the project over its lifespan . Of that , $ 130 million is coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act , the department said.. It is the largest commitment to any transportation project anywhere in the United States in the history of the Department of Transportation , according to administrator Peter Rogoff of the Federal Transportation Administration . `` This is what President Obama means by recovery . It means putting people back to work now to improve the lives of so many others for years to come , '' Rogoff said . The project -- known as ARC , for Access to the Region 's Core -- is expected to create 6,000 design and construction jobs . `` This is going to promote mobility , reduce commuter congestion , staunch carbon emissions , enhance regional competitiveness and lay a foundation for an extraordinary expansion of mass transit in the most densely populate state in the nation , New Jersey , '' New Jersey Gov . John Corzine said . New Jersey Transit says 170,000 passengers now travel through the existing train tunnel beneath the Hudson River to New York each day . When completed , the second tunnel will enable that figure to increase to 255,000 passenger trips . The additional passengers will disembark at a new concourse to be built at Penn Station in New York , 150 feet below street level .
Tunnel to connect New Jersey with New York , doubles commuter rail service . Part of project funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act . ARC , Access to the Nation 's Core , expected to create 6,000 jobs .