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Amtrak's East River tunnels are in such bad shape that parts crumble at the slightest touch
By
Stephen Nessen
Published May 16, 2025
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Stephen Nessen
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Stephen Nessen
Published May 16, 2025
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To illustrate the major repairs needed in one of Amtrak’s East River tunnels, a top railroad official only needed to brush his hands along a piece of metal.
“This is 130-year-old steel,” Amtrak Project Manager David Cooper told reporters standing on a flatbed work train. “We need to repair this.”
Rusty debris fell to the tunnel floor at the slightest touch. Cooper stood on an uneven slab of concrete beside the tracks that was also crumbling.
“This is something that is not happening quickly. We need to get in properly, repair all these rivets, repair all the steel, apply a proper epoxy coating to stop this corrosion in its path,” he said.
The overnight tour for reporters that went into early Thursday morning came amid an ongoing feud between the MTA and Amtrak over how to repair two East River tunnels damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
Sections of an East River tunnel owned by Amtrak showed signs of serious water damage.
Stephen Nessen
The MTA fears Amtrak’s plan to fully close the tunnels one at a time over three years raises the likelihood of delays for riders on the Long Island Rail Road, which also uses two other East River tunnels for service in and out of Penn Station.
If the repairs encounter any complications, it could create a ripple effect of delays affecting the LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit, according to MTA officials. They say Amtrak should repair the tunnels only on nights and weekends.
Cooper insisted that alternative proposal is not feasible. He pointed reporters to a color-coded punch list of 254 East River tunnel repairs in an office near Sunnyside Yards. The work, which Amtrak officials expect to begin as soon as next Friday, will cost $1.6 billion.
The repairs will include plugging cracks in the tunnel's roof, which produced a steady drip of water. One worker jokingly compared the unnerving leak to the Splash Mountain ride at Disney World.
Amtrak says work in the tunnels could begin as soon as next Friday.
Stephen Nessen
Other sections of the tunnel were pocked with holes where water had corroded large chunks of concrete.
Amtrak said workers will frequently go through the tunnel, tapping worrying patches of concrete with a hammer. If the patch makes a hollow sound, they know it needs to be shored up. But those short-term fixes aren’t permanent solutions.
Amtrak argues that a full tunnel closure will allow it to get more work done each day. The railroad plans to fully replace the bench wall and the tracks as well as upgrade electrical cables and the overhead catenary system to last another 100 years.
Water dripped from cracks in the tunnel.
Stephen Nessen
“ Having that 13 months outage provides much more reliability and certainty around the work that needs to be done day to day,” said Amtrak Assistant Vice President Derick Hallahan.
The MTA, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams and Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler continue to argue in favor of limiting closures to nights and weekends.
LIRR President Rob Free said Thursday he could not "stand by and allow our operation to be put in jeopardy to the extent it will be" by Amtrak's project.
When asked what incentive Amtrak has to scrap its plan at the 11th hour, Free said, “its reputation.”
But Amtrak officials were confident the plan will work.
“ We have looked at alternatives and none of them give us the solution that we want, which is 100 years of useful life from the system,” said Youssef Dehne, senior project director at Amtrak.
Tagged
manhattan
amtrak
east river
queens
transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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