Penn Station Repairs Completed But More Construction to Come
By Hanley Maverick
The Penn Station Renewal, done by the Metropolitan Transit Authority, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak to replace aging tracks was completed on time with commuter trains going back to regularly scheduled hours on Sept. 5th, 2017. But Amtrak announced there will be more construction at the midtown station, potentially causing even more inconvenience for riders.
The eight week project affected commuters of Amtrak, NJ Transit and the Long Island Rail Road. But some riders think that the service during the summer was was better than it is now.
“We’ve endured this for a number of weeks and to come back and still face delays, so what was all this for,?” said 42 year old John Henson. Henson said was stuck in a tunnel for 25 minutes on Wednesday going to Penn Station on the Hempstead line. He said the conductors didn’t specify why the train got stuck and eventually had to back out of the tunnel. Sarah Armaghan, an LIRR official, wrote in an email that the delay was due to a stalled Amtrak train inside an east river tunnel.
Transportation is something New Yorkers should be proud of but aren’t, said 53 year old Alok Mahapatra, who has taken the NJ Transit for 18 years from Penn Station to central New Jersey and added that he wants to see improvement in infrastructure and less delays.
Amtrak, who owns Penn Station and leases it the NJ Transit and the MTA/LIRR, began construction on the $1.6 Billion Moynihan Hall Project which is plan to expand Penn Station and connect it the Farley building, wrote Christina Leeds, a spokesperson for Amtrak. It is estimated to be completed by the end of 2020 and will add brand new tracks and cause trains to be less crowded.
Amtrak also announced a plan to expand the rails and double train capacity between the two Penn Stations of New York and New Jersey in $ 20 Billion project called the Gateway Program, estimated to be completed by 2026.
