What to Know
- The dreaded "summer of hell' has arrived for rail riders in New York and is expected to last until the end of August
- Amtrak is beginning extensive repairs Monday to tracks and signals in Penn, which it owns and operates, it announced the overhaul in April
- LIRR riders can expect rush hour service to be reduced by as much as 19 percent; NJ Transit is diverting some rush hour trains to Hoboken
Democratic senators from New York and New Jersey are calling on President Trump to honor a commitment made under President Obama to fund a project to build a second rail tunnel between the two states.
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker spoke Monday near the spot on Manhattan's West Side where preliminary work has already begun. Their briefing came on the first day of what Gov. Cuomo has coined a "summer of hell," a series of service changes for NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuters made necessary by Amtrak's overhaul of the aging New York Penn Station.
A second tunnel would add capacity and ease overcrowding and delays. The Gateway project would also address damages in the existing tunnel from Sandy and make substantial improvements on the New Jersey side of Penn Station.
That is expected to take at least another decade to complete, although Trump has proposed eliminating a grant program that was to pay for half of it, which is currently estimated to cost about $13 billion.
Booker said it's time for Trump to "put up or shut up."
