By Canadian Press

Amtrak: 6 weeks of disruptions for Penn Station repairs

May 2, 2017 | 8:45 AM

NEW YORK — Rail commuters would face about six weeks of significant service disruptions this summer to accommodate repairs at New York’s Penn Station prompted by recent equipment failures, according to a plan proposed by Amtrak.

The document obtained by The Associated Press describes work scheduled between July 7 and July 25 and again between Aug. 4 and Aug. 28 as causing “significant service impacts” and requiring service adjustments.

Those service changes aren’t specified, and the plan is not final. Last week Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman said negotiations would continue this week with the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit, the commuter railroads that transport hundreds of thousands of people in and out of the nation’s busiest rail station each weekday.

Other work will continue through next spring and will be performed primarily on weekends, according to the proposal.

Representatives from Amtrak, NJ Transit and the LIRR didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

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Aging equipment has been blamed for recent delays and problems, including two derailments. An April 3 derailment knocked out eight of the station’s 21 tracks for four days and created widespread delays for commuters and travellers up and down Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C.

Amtrak, the nation’s intercity passenger railroad, has said more than 400,000 people pass through the station each weekday.

Amtrak’s replacement of tracks and other equipment, much of which dates to the 1970s, initially was scheduled to be completed over a two- or three-year period, mainly during off hours. But the recent problems prompted Amtrak to speed up that timetable.

Some New Jersey legislators criticized the plan Tuesday for not taking advantage of the July 4th and Labor Day weekends to minimize impact on commuters.

“New Jersey commuters endured a week of massive overcrowding and unacceptable delays in the week following the April 3 Amtrak derailment when eight tracks were shut down,” Democratic Sen. Bob Gordon said in a statement. “We can’t expect them to suffer through an entire summer like that.”

David Porter, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

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Amtrak: 6 weeks of disruptions for Penn Station repairs

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