In letter to Obama, Cuomo and Christie ask feds to pay for half of new Hudson rail tunnel

The governors of New York and New Jersey are asking the federal government to pay for half the cost of a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.

In a letter Tuesday to President Barack Obama, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (KWOH'-moh) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie say their states, along with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, would cover the rest of the project. It has a price tag of at least $14 billion.

Cuomo and Christie say their plan is a "realistic, appropriate and fair" approach to a project needed to address delays and congestion in the aging 105-year-old tunnel connecting the two states.

They say their letter is an attempt to break the "logjam" surrounding funding that has delayed construction for decades.