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Christopher Sadowski
Amtrak is moving full speed ahead with tunnel closures in the city on Friday — despite pleas from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams who fear the three-year project could cause transit chaos.
Amtrak leadership had a “productive” meeting with Hochul and leaders of the Metropolitan Transit Agency Thursday, but Amtrak will still close one of two westbound train tracks in the East River Tunnel, according to Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams.
“Amtrak reassured the Governor and MTA of our commitment to minimizing impacts to passengers throughout the project,” Abrams said.
The transit giant’s much-maligned plan earned the ire of Long Islanders and top city and state officials over worries the closure could affect MTA trains from Queens into Penn Station. Any unforeseen construction problems may mean all access in the tunnel has to be closed off, potentially disrupting train traffic on a major regional scale, critics have argued.
But Amtrak said to try to avoid delays it will provide around-the-clock engineering coverage during the outage, conduct more frequent inspections of the remaining westbound track — and strategically position rescue equipment so delays can be swiftly resolved.
Hochul said Amtrak also agreed to allow third-party consultants to examine the project to determine if the second tunnel needs to be fully closed when that construction begins in the fall of 2026 and runs for 13 months. The construction on the first tunnel starting Friday will also take about 13 months, Amtrak engineers said.
Hochul asked Amtrak to suspend dynamic pricing on affected train trips during the shutdown. Abrams said Amtrak is assessing the feasibility with the New York State Department of Transportation.
Mayor Eric Adams jumped into the tunnel tug-of-war May 6, sending a fiery letter to US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — blasting Amtrak’s East River shutdown plan and demanding feds step in before commuters are left stranded and steaming.
City Hall sources said Adams has been going back and forth with the White House on the shutdown, even having Randy Maestro, the first deputy mayor, make the admin’s case. But ultimately, the mayor’s office is letting Hochul lead the discussion.
“Top administration officials have had numerous conversations with Amtrak and the White House on this issue, and negotiations are still ongoing with the White House,” a City Hall rep said in a statement.
The MTA’s Long Island Railroad service uses the East River Tunnel for hundreds of trains each day. LIRR President Rob Free has tried to distance the MTA from the closure plan, calling it “Amtrak’s operation” last week — even though the MTA green-lit Amtrak’s plan to close the tunnels back in October 2023.
Amtrak has maintained that the full closure of the tunnels is necessary because of the extent of damages since it was walloped by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
“Amtrak is committed to delivering for today’s riders while making the long-overdue investments needed to protect service for future generations,” Abrams said.
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