NEW YORK — Amtrak and Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say the East River tunnel rehabilitation project is on schedule after six months, with repairs on the first of two tunnels to be completed by July.
The operators addressed progress on the tunnel project with local media on Wednesday (Dec. 10), with Laura Mason, Amtrak executive vice president, Capital Delivery, providing a briefing and Long Island Rail Road president Rob Free taking part in a tour of the work, Long Island newspaper Newsday reports.
The project, taking one of four tunnels out of service at a time, led to modifications to Amtrak service [see “Amtrak schedule revisions to begin …,” Trains.com, April 27, 2025], reflecting the capacity limitations created by the closure of one of the four tunnels between Penn Station and Queens [see “Why closing an East River tunnel causes Penn Station congestion …,” May 30, 2025].
The project was preceded by disagreements between Amtrak and the MTA on the timing and approach to repairing damage from 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, but both sides say they have been cooperating to make the reduced tunnel capacity work.
“We are working together, communicating, talking,” Mason said, according to WABC-TV, “making sure we understood each other about how we would route trains in and out of Penn Station with only three tubes.”
Free told Newsday, “If Amtrak wins, we all win. It serves the greater good of the region. … we pressed to make sure there are certain things we wanted to see. There have been bumps, but I think we’ve done a good job at mitigating them.”
Work to date on the tunnel known as Line 2 includes new walls lining the tunnel, improved ventilation, and improved drainage after clearing sediment from the tunnel. Ballasted track will be replaced with track fixed directly to the tunnel’s concrete floor, in keeping with modern practice. Once construction is complete, new signal and electrical systems will be installed, and by the end of the project, the tunnel will meet modern fire codes. About 350 workers are involved in the repairs seven days a week.
Once Line 2 work is complete, a 13-month project will begin on the adjacent Line 1, also damaged by Hurricane Sandy. Separate projects are intended to keep storm water from entering the tunnels in the future.
More on the tunnel project is available here from Amtrak.
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