Amtrak began repairs Monday, at the country’s busiest station, Penn. Station. The extensive repairs would last until July to September.
Governor Andrew Cuomo anticipated a “Summer of Hell,” for commuters facing the overdue repairs.
The repairs would divert and drop some lines from New Jersey Transit, Long Island Railroad, and Amtrak services, resulting in hundreds of thousands daily commuters being affected during peak hour.
However, the railroad is offering extra bus and ferry services to combat the service changes. MTA is also adding more cars to their trains.
The work was originally meant to be done over the course of a few years at midnight hours and on the weekend, but 3 recent derailments, one this Thursday spurred the railroad to quicken the repairs.
Commuter Greg Stewart says the delays have become commonplace.
“Remember the New Jersey Transit’s been running on delays for the last few months, 56% of their trains have been on time, so this is something we’ve gotten used to,” Stewart said.
LIRR has 20% of its services reduced as well, which could likely lead to even more crowded trains, in both the morning and evening commutes.
“Very crowded train, it’s been a little frustrating, I have to get up an hour earlier, hopefully, they’ll figure this out and we can return to our regular schedule,” said commuter Alexander Taylor.
No major issues came up on the morning of July 10, signally that commuters were using alternate transport or many just worked from home to see the situation pan out.
“One of the things people are saying is that after the summer of hell we’re going to have hell for infinity, let’s see if that happens,” Stewart said.
Bowen Xiao, NTD news.
