JOHN REITMEYER | AUGUST 7, 2017
Upgrades right on schedule, agency says, but there might be more work needed after summer is over that could affect NJ Transit commuters
The major repairs at New York’s Penn Station that have pushed thousands of New Jersey Transit commuters off their normal routes into Manhattan this summer are right on-schedule after the first month of work.
The steady progress means service changes that have been in place since early July are still likely to end soon after Labor Day. But with the aging station and its heavily used infrastructure in need of even more fixing up once summer ends, additional track outages that could again impact NJ Transit may be looming.
According to the latest update from Amtrak, the agency that owns Penn Station and has been leading the ongoing repairs, workers will need roughly another month to finish fixing up Track 10 and a part of the facility that includes a very busy section known as “A Interlocking.” While the workers still have “considerable challenges ahead,” Gery Williams, Amtrak’s chief engineer, said they remain on course to complete those repairs by September 4.
“Really, overall, we’ve had a really, good week,” Williams told reporters on Friday as the project reached its official midway point. “From the project aspect, we’re 50 percent completed.”
“We’re very focused on delivering by Labor Day,” he said.
