Amtrak delays East River Tunnel repairs 2 weeks following MTA setback — same day Adams begged feds to pump brakes

It’s off the rails.

Amtrak will push back the start of its three-year East River Tunnel closure two weeks after Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul and other pols blasted the shutdown as potentially leaving millions of commuters stranded.

The East River Tunnel Rehabilitation project will tentatively get underway on May 23 instead of this Friday, Amtrak President Roger Harris told Hochul in a letter Tuesday.

Mayor Eric Adams had pleaded with Amtrak to delay the closing. Paul Martinka

The delay comes after the MTA informed Amtrak that a key infrastructure project managed by the Big Apple agency is, once again, behind schedule.

The train company signaled it would use the extra time to modify its much-hated service plan — that was approved by the MTA — and could risk train delays for millions of riders.

The shutdown was pushed back to May 23. Getty Images

“We believe it is important to present a united front to the traveling public,” Harris wrote.

Harris said that the Long Island Rail Road’s East-Bound Reroute (EBRR) project, managed by the MTA, is already six months late and will not be completed in time for Amtrak’s planned May 9 tunnel closure.

Amtrak said it is now working with the MTA and New Jersey Transit to adjust service plans and use the additional time to explore mitigation strategies aimed at minimizing disruption.

Harris requested a meeting with Hochul, the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad to discuss options such as rerouting service to Grand Central Terminal — a solution Hochul had proposed in a previous letter.

This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.