Summer of Hell almost over
The so-called Summer of Hell is just days away from being over. Amtrak officials announced Thursday afternoon that the repair work at Penn Station is complete and regular service will resume in the morning on Tuesday, September 5.
Penn Station repairs progress
The so-called Summer of Hell is half over. Amtrak's chief engineer said crews are 50-percent complete and that some of the work is running a bit ahead of schedule. After labor day, the weekday work ends and the weekend work begins.
Summer of Hell: Carpooling app
Aboard New Jersey Transit this summer, the only thing certain about your commute is uncertainty. As commuters struggle for a Plan B, Alec Aronwald has an offer he says you can't refuse. Aronwald, a college sophomore, initially created the CarPo app for college students to carpool long distances together. When the New Jersey native noticed how difficult the Morris and Essex line commute had become, he adjusted. The app now connects New Jersey drivers with commuters for a carpool service into New York City.
Summer of Hell: NJ Transit commute
Longer commutes on New Jersey are due to the massive repair work Amtrak is doing on Penn Station tracks used by the Morris and Essex NJ Transit lines. An official said about 8,700 extra riders came through the Hoboken terminal Monday. Commuters are urged to take a PATH train or ferry to Hoboken and then hop on another train home. They can also take a bus directly from Port Authority in Manhattan to New Jersey.
Summer of Hell: Day 1 mostly smooth
Amtrak has begun 8 weeks of extensive track and equipment replacements at Penn Station, which is shutting down several tracks per day. MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said 7,000 fewer LIRR commuters came into Penn Station Monday morning. Instead, they got off at terminals in Brooklyn and Long Island City and then took either the subway, bus, or a ferry into Manhattan.
Summer of Hell: Penn Station repairs begin
Amtrak has begun much-needed repair work on tracks and switches at Penn Station. Those repairs mean service cutbacks and changes. The doomsday commuting scenario that had been predicted failed to materialize Monday morning. But commuters are not totally in the clear. This is just the beginning. Amtrak's CEO said that all riders will benefit when new tracks are installed by the fall.
Penn Station repairs set to begin
The countdown to the nightmare for hundreds of thousands of commuters is on. A huge repair project starts Monday, July 10, at Penn Station. The two-month repair project will cost Amtrak about $40 million. Penn Station greets about 600,000 passengers a day. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo predicted a "summer of hell." Commuters can't even begin to comprehend that it could get any worse. But it can and it will.
MTA summer plan
The Long Island Rail Road has announced schedule changes in anticipation of summer construction work at Amtrak-managed Penn Station in New York City. The changes include providing ferry service for some customers, and a fleet of buses to carry affected rail riders into Manhattan.
NJ Transit summer schedule
New Jersey Transit released schedule changes Friday to accommodate this summer's extensive repair work at New York's Penn Station that is aimed at replacing aging parts and equipment that contributed to two recent derailments and numerous other failures.
NJ Transit cutbacks
New Jersey Transit executives on Wednesday defended their decision to restrict service disruptions to one train line to accommodate Amtrak's major repair work at Penn Station this summer, as lawmakers said they would subpoena records to find out how the decision was reached.
LIRR Delays
A power problem on an Amtrak third rail under the East River tunnel stranded commuters and caused major service delays and cancellations on the Long Island Rail Road.
Penn Station repairs
Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday unveiled a plan to limit the impact on New Jersey commuters during an emergency track repair project at Penn Station, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo cautioned commuters in his state to prepare for a "summer of hell."
Amtrak CEO testifies
Charles "Wick" Moorman, president and CEO of Amtrak testified Thursday before an assembly committee on how the railroad plans to improve what has become a dire situation at Penn Station. This summer Amtrak will begin a major project to upgrade tracks at Penn, which date back to the 1970s. That will mean significant weekday service outages of up to a quarter of trains during much of July and August, as well as weekend and overnight outages.
NJ Transit not collecting tickets: Report
The NY Times reported Monday that NJ Transit failed to collected 240,000 tickets last year and lost out on $5M on revenue. NJ Transit responded to the Times saying the revenue loss is speculative.
#NoPayMay protest
Spotty service over the past month has some New Jersey Transit rail riders taking a stand. Fed up with seemingly never-ending delays and disruptions, some riders say they're ready to vote with their pocketbooks. On social media, commuters and transit advocates are using the hashtag #nopaymay to encourage riders to present their April monthly passes in May to protest dismal service.
Amtrak repairs
Amtrak will step up infrastructure repairs in Penn Station this summer, but that will mean more service delays to accommodate the construction and rehabbing. The work will require the closing of tracks and schedule changes of all the railroads operating at Penn. Some work will be done on weekends but a significant part will be done on weekdays, according to Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman.
Commuter chaos again
LIRR and NJT commuters had to deal with yet another nightmare commute. A power problem in an East River tunnel caused extensive delays. When will this end?
Penn Station lawsuit?
MTA board members are fed up with Amtrak's handling of Penn Station. The MTA is now considering legal action against Amtrak after trail derailments in March and April.
Train stuck in Hudson River tunnel
An NJ Transit train with hundreds of people aboard is stuck under the Hudson River.
Penn Station mess
Amtrak promised to have repairs to tracks finished in time for the Friday morning commute in and out of Penn Station New York.