Amtrak Issues Statement on East River Tunnels Project
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Courtesy of STV
NEW YORK CITY - Amtrak President Roger Harris issued a statement on the East River Tunnels project.
This statement comes after Governor Hochul sent a letter asking Amtrak to consider shifting to a “repair-in-place” construction plan to mitigate impact to passenger service, as reported by RT&S on April 30th. In the statement from Amtrak President Harris, it says Amtrak coordinated with and received approval from both the MTA and NJ TRANSIT for the project several months ago. As such, he says this “balances impact to our commuter partners, as well as Amtrak and NYSDOT service to Albany.” The MTA has also approved designs and construction plans for the project. A year ago, the contractor was given a Notice to Proceed and is now “committed to a work schedule.” Major work on the project is scheduled to begin on May 9th. This comes after the “MTA delayed the work for more than seven months due to their lateness in completing work for their Eastbound Re-Route project,” according to the statement.
Amtrak says it has worked with the MTA and NJ TRANSIT for the last few years to evaluate its construction plans and “has been open to alternative approaches, including the ‘repair-in-place’ approach.” Amtrak says the chosen plan it is implementing is the “safest, most efficient, reliable, and timely.” Additionally, Amtrak states it has worked with the MTA to reduce any impact of delays on the project and has worked to find ways to shorten the outage. It appreciates Governor Hochul’s “commitment to Empire Service” and is open to continuing extra capacity “beyond the March 2nd date that we committed to.” It will also partner with the MTA to use commuter trains to provide its passengers more options.
