Tuesday Headlines: Open Tunnel Edition
Amtrak completed the first phase of its long-delayed East River Tunnel rehabilitation project, reopening one of the four tunnel tubes after a 15-month reconstruction effort that officials marked with a ceremonial train ride.
“This milestone reflects the progress Amtrak is making to rebuild critical infrastructure while maintaining service for the millions of customers who rely on the Northeast Corridor every year,” said Amtrak Interim President Byl Herrmann. “Reopening Line 2 of the East River Tunnel restores a vital transportation link and positions it to serve rail passengers for another 100 years.”
The repairs address damage that dates back to Superstorm Sandy, when saltwater flooded two of the four century-old tunnel tubes connecting Penn Station to Queens. Amtrak kept the tunnels in service after the storm with temporary repairs, but the corrosion left behind has caused years of signal failures, power problems and other infrastructure issues that have repeatedly snarled service on the Northeast Corridor and for Long Island Rail Road and NJ TRANSIT riders.
The East River Tunnels are a critical choke point in the region’s rail network, carrying hundreds of trains each day into and out of Penn Station. Because there is little redundancy in the system, even minor infrastructure failures can ripple across three commuter railroads and Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor service. Riders have endured frequent delays in recent years, with tunnel outages and infrastructure failures becoming an all-too-familiar feature of peak-hour commuting.
The rehabilitation project, which carries a roughly $1.6 billion price tag, rebuilds the damaged tunnel tubes one at a time while trains continue using the remaining three. The newly reopened Line 2 is the first of the two Sandy-damaged tunnels to be fully reconstructed. Work on the remaining damaged tube is expected to continue through 2027.
Elsewhere in the Empire State:
- Suffolk County is going all in on Flock Safety, even with controversial data protection practices undertaken by the security camera company. (The New York Post)
- A top Democratic donor is fundraising for Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s campaign. (The New York Post)
- Utility companies want to build solar and wind farms, but they need to get around a state ban. (Gothamist)
- Citi Bike riders are pushing for a fee cap as revenues for the bike share service rise with prices. (NY1)
- The race for Putnam County Executive is starting to heat up. (Mid Hudson News)
- What happens to the Erie County Democratic Party if state Sen. Jeremy Zellner gets a job in the Hochul administration? (City & State)
- Albany’s fiscal deficit continues to look grim. (The Times Union)
- New excavations of Erie Canal locks could connect a piece of Capitol Region history to the Empire State Trail. (WAMC)
- Blakeman made a stop in Monroe County. (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
- What’s next for Western New York’s political upper class? (The Buffalo News)
- The new Buffalo Bills Stadium cost a lot of taxpayer money, but at least it looks cool. (The Investigative Post)
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