Amtrak Reports Empire Corridor Will Return To Normal Service At NY Penn Station

New York City, June 20, 2018 –

In a telephone press conference for the media, Amtrak officials reported that the Infrastructure Renewal Program on the Empire Corridor project currently underway is on target. Amtrak’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Scot Naparstek and Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Stephen Gardner took questions and led the discussion on this year’s project. Overall, Amtrak’s plan is to modernize stations, infrastructure and equipment on the Northeast Corridor.

The work is scheduled for completion by Sept. 4, when upstate trains will switch back to Penn from Grand Central Terminal (normally the home of Metro-North).

The most dramatic part of the plan was the June 14, 2018 removal of the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge that connects Manhattan and The Bronx for trains headed to Albany-Rensselaer station. One of the world's largest floating cranes, the Left Coast Lifter, was used to left the swing bridge and load it onto a barge to repair the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy. Included in this overhaul are the bridge’s electrical and mechanical systems. The crane was last used for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project.

Amtrak is replacing track in the Empire Tunnel, as well as replacing cross ties, grade crossings and 8,000 feet of continuous rail, including the track between the tunnel and the Spuyten Duyvil Bridge.

Meanwhile, NY Penn Station is undergoing other improvements.

Track 19 is currently undergoing a complete gutting and replacement and replacing three turnouts and conduct total ballasted track and wood tie track replacement.

The restrooms are being refreshed, upgrading the air conditioning in the station's concourse area, lactation suites for nursing mothers installed, and has receiving construction bids for Amtrak Ticketed waiting room and a refreshing of the ClubAcela suite.

The big announcement was the arrival of the replacement of the current Acelas after 20 years in 2021 and the replacement of the current single-level Amfleet Is that are over 40 years old and operating on FRA waiver.

                              By Joseph M. Calisi ©2018 All Rights Reserved

An Unsung Part Of East Side Access - Metro-North Heads To NY Penn Station

Manhattan, July 28, 2011 - A great deal of the focus concerning East Side Access surrounds the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) entering a new lower level of Grand Central Terminal in a few years (hopefully). On the flip-side, a relatively little-discussed part of the project involves Metro-North (MNR).

I can predict your thoughts - what does Metro-North have to do with ESA? The answer is plenty.

The new M-8 cars you're seeing plying the rails of the New Haven line in the coming years will have an additional port to call at - NY Penn Station. The cars were designed to use both MNR's under running 3rd rail and LIRR's overrunning (dragging over the power rail like the subways).

According to unnamed sources, this hasn't reached the design phase but involves adding new LIRR-style 3rd rail so that the M-8 cars don't have to interface with an additional phase of electrical over catenary power which is something the new 'tomato cans' can't handle.

Since NY Penn Station is at complete capacity, LIRR trains would have to be displaced by MNR's equipment. One of the theories behind ESA is that the 2 agencies would engineer a train 'swap' of 2:1 or even 3:1 but this still in a pipe dream as the tunnel boring 'rock eating' machine has just completed it task. Years of work are still ahead before track can be laid and signalling put into place.

An interesting possibility is that a Metro-North M-8 could go down Amtrak's Hell Gate line and still could wind up in Grand Central but in the LIRR's new lair.

I encourage you to visit Jim Cameron's CT Rail Commuter Council blog at: www.trainweb.org/. Many concerns that crop up on the Metro-North's New Haven line are discussed on the site. This very topic can be under the banner of Metro- North Penn Station Access Study than can be found at:
http://www.trainweb.org/ct/mnpenn.htm .

Nonetheless, I look forward to any of these developments becoming reality - I just want to see them.