Amtrak's Harris responds to Hochul's concerns about East River Tunnel project

Amtrak President Roger Harris yesterday responded to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's call for the railroad to reevaluate its plan to fully shut down the East River Tunnel for a major rehabilitation project.

In a letter to Harris on Monday, Hochul asked the railroad to rethink its plan to shut down the tunnel for the project and instead shift the work to a "repair-in-place" method — with construction happening during nights and weekends — to maintain normal train schedules.

"While I continue to be supportive of the efforts to rehabilitate the East River Tunnels, 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," Hochul wrote.

In his response, posted on Amtrak's website, Harris said that Amtrak coordinated with and received approval from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and New Jersey Transit for the East River Tunnel rehab service plan several months ago. The plan balances the impact to MTA and NJ Transit riders, as well as Amtrak and Empire Service to Albany, New York, he said.

Moreover, MTA approved the construction plans, designs and supported the application for funding for the project, which has already been obligated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Harris said.

"The contractor is ready to start, as they were given notice to proceed a year ago and is already committed to a work schedule," he added. Amtrak, in coordination with MTA and NJ Transit, considered several options — including the repair-in-place approach —as it developed the construction plans over several years, said Harris. "However, the plan we are implementing proved to be the safest, most efficient, reliable, and timely to complete the full rehabilitation of East River Tunnel, making it the best use of taxpayer investments," he said.

Major construction work on the project will begin May 9, after MTA delayed the work for more than seven months due to MTA's lateness in completing work for its eastbound re-route project, added Harris.

"We appreciate Gov, Hochul’s commitment to Empire Service, and have been happy to continue the extra capacity that we agreed with her in December well beyond the March 2nd date that we committed to," Harris stated. "We are also eager to partner with the MTA on her suggestion of using their commuter trains to provide more options and solutions for our customers."