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Rail News Home Amtrak

4/30/2025



Rail News: Amtrak

Gov. Hochul asks Amtrak to rethink East River Tunnel rehab plans


The tunnel consists of four tubes, two of which require significant repairs and reconstruction following damage caused by floodwaters that entered the tunnel during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Photo – amtrak.com

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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday called on Amtrak to reevaluate its plan to fully shut down the East River Tunnel during a major rehab project and consider shifting instead to a "repair-in-place" method — with construction happening during nights and weekends — to maintain normal train schedules.

Hochul outlined her concerns in a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris shortly after news that Amtrak plans to temporarily delay the tunnel closure while maintaining service cuts that disproportionately impact Amtrak Empire Service riders. In the letter, Hochul urged Amtrak to reexamine its plans for the tunnel project.

“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," she wrote.

Empire Service is supported by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and carried more than 2 million passengers in fiscal-year 2024, setting records for ridership and revenue. Last year, Amtrak announced it would reduce service by two daily round trips between Albany and New York City and implemented additional operational modifications to the Maple Leaf and Adirondack lines while it repairs the East River Tunnel, which was damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Hochul has expressed support for the East River Tunnel project and its aim to address a state-of-good repair backlog on the Northeast Corridor, but has opposed plans that have caused Empire Service trains to receive a disproportionate share of impacts to schedules, according to a press release issued by the governor's office. That opposition led to an agreement between Amtrak and the NYSDOT for the restoration of nearly all of the trains that had been temporarily suspended in advance of the tunnel closure. Part of the agreement included a commitment to add additional coach cars to other Empire Service trains to further mitigate the disruption to passengers.

Since then, Amtrak has cast doubt on that commitment in order to redistribute rolling stock while Horizon fleet passenger cars are removed from service to address corrosion issues, Hochul's press release states. The governor also is concerned that the impact a total tunnel shutdown would have on MTA Long Island Rail Road service has not been addressed. 



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