Amtrak’s upcoming East River Tunnel work will lead to major disruptions for LIRR commuters, affecting service and capacity.
The public is still waiting to see the detailed construction schedule from the contractor. Amtrak should have already reviewed it with input from NJTransit and LIRR since their operations will be directly affected. This schedule is crucial as it outlines the timeline for the project, including milestones and the sequence of work leading to the promised completion in 2027.
But let’s be real—don’t be shocked if that completion date slips to 2028 or even 2029. Costs are likely to rise too, with unexpected changes popping up during construction. Sometimes, contractors ask for more money due to extra work that wasn’t in the original plan.
To keep some service running, LIRR will have to cancel or combine some rush hour trains or reroute them to Grand Central. This is going to lead to overcrowding on the remaining trains, leaving some folks standing in the aisles. It’s going to be tough for conductors to check tickets too. Until this work wraps up, reliable service with enough seats during peak hours is going to be a challenge for LIRR commuters.
Over the past eight years, the cost of fixing the tunnel has skyrocketed by 300%, now hitting $1.6 billion. Even with work starting in 2024, there’s no guarantee that the repairs will be done by 2027.
Amtrak needs to figure out if they can manage track outages and have enough staff to meet that 2027 deadline. They’re also juggling other big projects along the Northeast Corridor, like the Portal North Bridge and Gateway Tunnel, which complicates things even more.
And let’s not forget about the routine maintenance at various stations and tunnels along the Northeast Corridor. It’s a lot for Amtrak to handle, and it raises questions about whether they can provide enough workers for all these projects while also focusing on the East River Tunnel.
Amtrak has said that each of the two damaged tubes will need to be out of service for a year and a half. With only three tubes available for the next few years, we’re looking at a 25% drop in capacity at Penn Station. This affects not just LIRR but also NJTransit and Amtrak, which all need access to move equipment.
With only three tubes running during rush hours, things are going to get tight. Penn Station is already at full capacity during peak times, so if one tube goes down, expect delays and cancellations.
Under Amtrak’s plan, one tube will be out of service all the time for a few years. If a train stalls in one of the remaining tubes, thousands of commuters will be late.
The West Side Penn Station yard, used by LIRR for midday train storage, will also be impacted. Evening rush hour service relies on trains arriving on time, and any delays will ripple through the schedule.
To keep some service going, LIRR will have to cancel or combine trains, and some will be diverted to Grand Central, which adds travel time for those heading to West Side Manhattan. This will lead to overcrowded trains with not enough seats for everyone.
The reduced capacity in the East River Tunnel also makes it tough to add new services that were promised, like the Metro-North East Bronx New Haven line access to Penn Station.
Both Amtrak and NJTransit need to access the Queens Sunnyside Yards through the East River tunnels for their planned service increases. Losing one tube means a significant drop in capacity, so no new services can be added until all four tubes are fixed.
The LIRR’s old motto, “Line of the Dashing Dan,” might need a makeover to “Line of the Slow Moving Sloth” when it comes to finishing these repairs, which are still dragging on from the 2012 storm damage.
Penner is a transportation advocate, historian, and writer who previously served as a former director for operations and program management at the FTA Region 2 New York Office.
