Amtrak’s Penn Station repairs will close some tracks for over a month

A week after Amtrak announced that it would close some Penn Station tracks to carry out repairs on aging infrastructure, details are emerging on what that closure might entail. The New York Times got its hands on a copy of closure plans that Amtrak shared with New Jersey Transit and Long Island Railroad, the two commuter railways that share the station with Amtrak.

These preliminary plans call for track closures to take place between July 7 through through July 25, and from August 4 to August 28, which amounts to a total of 44 days of closed tracks. The plan outlines 21 repairs that need to be made in various locations, according to the Times.

Officials from Amtrak, NJ Transit, and LIRR are meeting this week to create a final outline for the work, but it is not yet clear how this will disrupt service or train schedules when the tracks remain closed.

Amtrak had previously believed that work on the nights and weekends would help them rectify the track situation, but a series of derailments and delays over the span of just one month has made them change course.

Elected officials from New Jersey are questioning Amtrak’s selected dates however and wondering why the corporation won’t schedule repairs on long upcoming holiday weekends like Fourth of July and Labor Day. We will continue to find out more this week as the three rail services hash out the final details on the closure, but it sure is looking like a hellish summer at Penn Station.

• Amtrak’s Plan for Penn Station Repairs Calls for 44 Days of Closed Tracks [NYT]
• Amtrak will close Penn Station tracks to repair its aging infrastructure [Curbed]