ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is calling for Amtrak to revise its plans for East River Tunnel repairs in light of cuts to Empire Service operations that began on Monday, as well as concerns about the impact on Long Island Rail Road commuters.
Also, one of New York’s members of Congress has asked President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to intervene, calling the cuts “drastic and unnecessary.”
In a Monday, April 28, letter to Amtrak Board Chair Anthony Coscia and President Roger Harris, Hochul said she is “deeply disappointed” to hear that Amtrak is delaying a shutdown of one tube of the four-tube tunnel while proceeding with service reductions. [See “Amtrak schedule revisions …,” Trains News Wire, April 27, 2025].
She also expressed concern about “significant unaddressed risks” to LIRR operations, as well as disappointment that Amtrak will not offer the previously promised additional capacity on Empire Service trains as a result of the redistribution of equipment resulting from the sidelining of the company’s Horizon car fleet [see “Examination of Horizon corrosion issues …,” News Wire, April 3, 2025]. Amtrak, in response to a recent News Wire inquiry, said it had no update on the status of the Horizon cars.
Hochul’s letter calls for Amtrak to consider whether a “repair-in-place” approach based on night and weekend work would be feasible. If the shutdown is needed, the letter says the company needs to consider alternatives for the Empire Service, including operating trains to Grand Central Terminal and acquiring rolling stock from commuter railroads to increase capacity.
“While I continue to be supportive of the efforts to rehabilitate the East River Tunnels,” Hochul said in a press release, “the decision to maintain service cuts amidst this latest delay — and backtracking on public commitments to increase capacity during the shutdown — shows a disregard for Empire Service passengers.”
WCBS-TV reports that Amtrak said in a statement it will minimize disruptions and “plans to maintain the majority of train service through the remaining tunnels by closing one tube at a time.” LIRR President Rob Free says the commuter railroad has adjusted its schedule to accommodate the tunnel project, but adds, “There are significant risks in the way in which they’re going to perform this work.
“The greatest risk with this is that if something happens, something that’s mundane that happens everyday, that doesn’t cause a service disruption. With this type of outage, [it] will exacerbate that type of incident and cause a service disruption.”
The news site Gothamist reported on potential disruptions to LIRR service because of the tunnel work last year, noting that Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber had previously urged Amtrak to perform the tunnel work on nights and weekends. At that time, an Amtrak spokesman Gothamist that the work “would not result in a major disruption to LIRR or NJ Transit service.” NJ Transit trains use the tunnel to move between Penn Station and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where its trains lay over.
On Tuesday, April 29, U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican representing suburbs just north of New York City, wrote Trump and Duffy, urging them to overrule Amtrak while calling the current plan “a total disaster for New York travelers” and “completely avoidable.”
In a letter to Trump and Duffy, Lawler — who is considering a run for governor — said the service cuts resulting from the project “will deal a massive economic blow and add an extra hardship to the New Yorkers who rely on these trains.”
— Updated April 30 at 7:10 a.m. CT with Lawler letter.
NEC states need to pony up a LOT more money for the level of service & use they get on that corridor. Their Amtrak service should assessed the same funding responsibility as other state sponsored corridors in the west & midwest.
GALEN – It’s my understanding that the NEC states will need to participate in the gargantuan costs of the capital improvements. The Amtrak trains may be free but the commuter trains surely aren’t.
Note that the prime contractor for the ERT Rehabilitation Project is Skanska / E-J Electric Joint Venture.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
If the Governor of NY wants to get involved with running train service, NY can buy the tunnels and take over the service from Amtrak. If you want to let the feds run and pay for everything in your state, then STFU.