Amtrak's East River Tunnel project could snarl LIRR service for years, MTA warns
It could be a rough few years ahead for Long Island Rail Road commuters as Amtrak plans to shut down the East River tunnels to fix damage from Superstorm Sandy.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is sounding the alarm on potential service cuts if Amtrak goes ahead with its plan to shutter one of Penn Station's most vital rail tunnels to make the repairs.
Full Amtrak shutdown may be too risky, MTA says
The Federal Rail Agency says a complete shutdown is the only way to fix the East River tunnels connecting Manhattan to Queens, Long Island and New England after they were badly damaged back in late October of 2012.
Amtrak plans to work on two of the four tunnels over the next three years, potentially impacting LIRR and New Jersey Transit riders as well.
The MTA, which operates LIRR trains passing through the tunnels every hour, says Amtrak's plan for a full shutdown might be too risky.
"Since Grand Central Madison opened, we adjusted our schedules to, I'll say it lightly, accommodate this work," LIRR President Rob Free said. "There are significant risks in the way in which they're going to perform this work."
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on Amtrak to reevaluate its plan. In a letter, she urged Amtrak to take steps to find other methods to do the work while reducing impact to passengers.
Significant Amtrak service cut already in effect
A significant cut to Amtrak service from New York to Albany is already in effect, but many commuters didn't find out about the change until Monday.
The rail company confirmed it had to cut 20% of its service for trains bound for the state capital and points north to accommodate the $1.6 billion construction.
Amtrak said in a statement it intends to minimize disruptions and "plans to maintain the majority of train service through the remaining tunnels by closing one tube at a time."
"The greatest risk with this is that if something happens, something that's mundane that happens everyday, that doesn't cause a service disruption. With this type of outage, will exacerbate that type of incident and cause a service disruption," Free said.
"There's always things with Penn Station that you just never know. So I'm not optimistic, but I'm not pessimistic. I'll just see how it unfolds," Stephen Malinchok, an Amtrak rider, said.
The project is slated to be completed in 2028.
