'Summer Of Hell' At Penn Station Starts July 10: Here's Everything You Need To Know

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NEW YORK CITY — Oh, hell. It’s here.

The transit chaos that New York's Gov. Andrew Cuomo dubbed the “Summer of Hell” starts July 10. With it comes packed and delayed trains, diversions and changed schedules and a massive headache for hundreds of thousands of commuters who – frankly – have put up with far too much already.

Amtrak begins emergency repairs at Penn Station on Monday, and in doing so will create a new web of hurdles for the Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak commuters that will last until September.

An effect of those changes will likely be super-packed subways and PATH trains in New York City.

Amtrak, which owns and operates Penn Station, originally planned to complete repairs over the course of a few years, but had to fast-track the project when crumbling infrastructure caused an Acela train and a NJ Transit train to derail this spring, within a few weeks of each other. Another NJ Transit train derailed on July 6, though the cause of that is still being investigated.

Amtrak soon admitted that the 40-year-old tracks were unable to handle the 3 million passenger increase Penn Station has seen in the past 10 years, and announced it would repair the tracks during an eight-week shutdown from July 10 until Sept 1.

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During that time, crews will replace tracks and switches at “A Interlocking" – the intersection of tracks that route trains coming and going from the Hudson River tunnel and the LIRR’s West Side Yard.

It’s unclear who will pay for the overhaul Amtrak estimates will cost up to $40 million — Governors Cuomo and Chris Christie from New Jersey both threatened to stop rent payments for tracks used by the LIRR and NJ Transit if Amtrak refused to foot the bill. But Amtrak argued that all users of the tracks should be held responsible for their upkeep.

What is clear is that New Jersey, Long Island and upstate New York rail riders are going to face increasingly complicated commutes from Monday morning. The ‘Summer of Hell’ will also impact MTA and Path riders. Thousands of Long Islanders will land in Brooklyn at Atlantic Terminal, a stop on nine of the city’s 24 subway lines, while many NJ Transit customers are being re-routed to Hoboken, where they'll take the PATH into the city.

Which is why Patch has collected all of the most recent “Summer of Hell” schedules and compiled them into the guide below.

Just click on your line to see the most up-to-date timetables the railroads have provided.

Amtrak Service Changes

• Acela Express, which runs between Boston and Washington D.C.
  • No service changes
• Empire, which runs between Albany-Rensselaer and Penn Station
  • Six trains will run to and depart from Grand Central Terminal
  • One weekend train will depart from Penn each day
• Crescent, which runs between New York City and New Orleans
  • Two Friday trains have been canceled
  • Service will terminate and commence in Washington DC
• Keystone, which runs between Harrisburg, PA, and Penn Station
  • Six trains will start and end in Philadelphia
  • Two trains will run between Harrisburg and Newark.
  • Service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg will not be changed
• Northeast Regional, which runs between Washington, D.C. and Boston
  • Six trains that run between New York City and Washington, DC have been cancelled
  • Service between New York and Boston will not be changed

New Jersey Transit Service Changes

• Atlantic City
  • No service changes
• Main/Bergen County,
  • Minor changes
• Montclair-Boonton
  • No service changes
• Morris and Essex
  • Midtown Direct trains from Dover and Gladstone that arrive after 7 a.m. will operate to Hoboken, where passengers can transfer to PATH trains or New York Waterway ferries
  • Midtown Direct trains from Montclair will continue to operate to New York.
  • Midtown Direct trains will continue to operate between Dover and New York on weekends.
• Northeast Corridor
  • Minor Changes
• North Jersey Coast Line
  • The North Jersey Coast Line trains that normally would go to Hoboken will terminate at Newark, where commuters will have to switch to a train to Secaucus and then to Hoboken.
• Pascack Valley
  • Minor changes
• Raritan Valley
  • Minor changes

Supplemental Service at Hoboken Terminal: New York Waterway will provide ferry service between Hoboken and W. 39th Street in Midtown and PATH will add extra cars to its Hoboken trains to accommodate about 7,000 more passengers.

Long Island Rail Road Service Changes

• Babylon Branch
  • An extra train will arrive at Penn Station before morning rush hour
  • Four morning trains to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal, one will terminate at Jamaica and one will be cancelled
  • An extra train will depart from Penn Station before evening rush hour
  • Three evening trains from Penn Station are cancelled
• Far Rockaway Branch:
  • One morning train will terminate at Jamaica
  • One evening train from Penn Station will originate at Atlantic Terminal, two will originate at Jamaica
  • One extra train will depart from Penn Station after evening rush hour
• Hempstead Branch:
  • An extra train will arrive at Atlantic Terminal before morning rush hour.
  • Two morning train to Penn Station will terminate at Jamaica
  • Two evening trains from Penn Station will originate at Atlantic Terminal and two will originate at Jamaica
  • An extra train will depart from Penn Station after evening rush hour
• Long Beach Branch
  • One morning train to Penn Station will be rerouted to Hunterspoint Avenue
• Montauk Branch
  • Minor schedule change
• Port Jefferson Branch
  • One morning train to Penn Station will be rerouted to Atlantic Terminal
  • One evening train from Penn Station is cancelled
• Port Washington Branch
  • One extra train will arrive at Penn Station before morning rush hour
  • One morning train to Penn Station is cancelled
  • One extra train will depart from Penn Station before evening rush hour
  • Three evening trains from Penn Station will originate at Hunterspoint Avenue and two others are cancelled
• Ronkonkoma Branch
  • One extra train will arrive at Penn Station before morning rush hour
  • One morning train to Penn Station will terminate in Jamaica
• West Hempstead Branch
  • One morning train to Penn Station will be rerouted to Hunterspoint Avenue

Supplemental Service: All LIRR trains will get at least two extra cars to accommodate extra passengers. The MTA will provide ferry service to West 34th Street from Long Island City and from Glen Cove, eight new park-and-ride bus routes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and free subway transfers and discounts to all LIRR ticket-holders.

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