A new Regional Plan Association report (PDF) calls for the proposed rail link beneath the Hudson River from the Meadowlands Arena to near Penn Station to be extended to Manhattan's East Side, possibly near Grand Central Station. The extension would save the estimated 60,000 commuters who travel through Penn Station to the East Side and back at least 20 minutes each way per day.

The connection from the Meadowlands to a new station near Penn Station--through what's called Access to the Region's Core or ARC--is supposed to be completed by 2017 (construction by the Port Authority and New Jersey Transit starts next year). But the RPA argues in its new report that that the connection should merely be the first leg.  read more »