Amtrak Says Penn Station Repairs Are ‘On Schedule’

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for New Jersey and New York train commuters who cross the Hudson River via Penn Station.

Amtrak announced Tuesday that its ongoing infrastructure renewal work at New York Penn Station is “on schedule” for a May 28 completion date. Since kicking off on Jan. 8, the work has affected schedules for some Amtrak commuters, as well as NJ Transit riders on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line.

The recent Amtrak work is part of a two-phase series of improvements at Penn Station that dates back to the "Summer of Hell," a series of track repairs that were widely expected to create chaos and delays for train riders last year.

According to Amtrak, the renovations will help to improve reliability and operations at Penn Station and along the Northeast Corridor.

• See related article: After Mild 'Summer Of Hell,' Will Winter Work Slow Penn Station?
• See related article: Phase One Of Penn Station Track Repairs Complete, Amtrak Says

WHAT WORK IS COMPLETE AND WHAT REMAINS?

Amtrak said in a recent “Program Milestone Report” that work already completed includes:

• Remove old rail and third rail
• Remove old block ties
• Remove old crossties and ballast
• Demolition of concrete track bed
• Install rebar and pour concrete track bed
• Install block ties, rail and third rail
• Install crossties, rail, third rail and ballast
• Surface ballasted track
• Install / test signal & power system
• Paint platform
• Remove old rail and third rail
• Replace #641 Turnout March 2 to March 19

According to Amtrak, ongoing and uncompleted work includes:

• Drill holes for new plates
• Remove embedded tie plates & grout
• Install new anchors & tie plates
• Install rail & third rail
• Replace #625 Turnout
• Replace #639 Turnout (May 18 to May 28)

Amtrak provided the following summary of Phase II work at Penn Station:

“For the Track 15 replacement (January 5th – February 26th) Amtrak forces must remove all rail, third rail, cables and signal system apparatus and begin demolition of the concrete roadbed. This requires the disposal of 350 tons of concrete. After removal of the concrete the new forms will be put in place and on-rail concrete trucks will be loaded outside of Penn Station and brought in through the “Empire Tunnel” to allow for the new concrete to be efficiently poured. This requires shutting down of the track and also the adjacent track where the trucks will sit. Once fresh concrete is poured with new forms and wood ties, the rail, third rail and all signal equipment will be replaced and tested. In addition to the replacement of the track in the concrete block tie section on Track 15, Engineering will be replacing the standard ballasted track from the end of the concrete to the west end of the platform. Once complete, all rail, ties, ballast, third rail and signal equipment will be removed and replaced in kind for the entire length of Track 15.

“For the Track 18 rehabilitation (March 23rd – May 14th) Amtrak forces will first pre-drill holes for the new tie plates with a rail-mounted drill on the existing track infrastructure. Once the holes are drilled into the concrete slab, the rail and third rail will be removed and the existing tie plates embedded in concrete will be extracted and replaced with grout. New tie plates will be installed and anchored into the concrete slab. New rail and third rail will be installed. During the outage on Track 18, Amtrak forces will extend their efforts east into “C” Interlocking to replace the #625 turnout. During this replacement, the full turnout (ties, rail, switch points, frog, guard rails and switch machine) will be removed from track and replaced with a new turnout panel.

“During a number of weekend outages between March 2nd – May 28th, Amtrak forces will work in “C” Interlocking again and replace the #639 and #641 turnouts. During these replacements, similar to the replacement of #625, the full turnout (ties, rail, switch points, frog, guard rails and switch machine) will be removed from track and replaced with a new turnout panel.

From January 5th through May 28th, work tasks to be completed in New York Penn Station include:

1. Replace Track 15 block tie and ballasted track

2. Rehabilitate Track 18 direct fixation track

3. Replace three (3) turnouts in “C” Interlocking

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

Photo: Amtrak