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Don’t hold your breath for better NJ Transit commutes at Penn Station
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Clayton Guse
Published Jul 5, 2024
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Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Clayton Guse
Published Jul 5, 2024
Share
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This column originally appeared in On The Way, a weekly newsletter covering everything you need to know about NYC-area transportation.
Sign up to get the full version, which includes answers to reader questions, trivia, service changes and more, in your inbox every Thursday.
NJ Transit and Amtrak riders who have faced hellish delays in and out of Penn Station in recent weeks were promised the agencies would do a better job working together going forward. But we have bad news: A real fix is unlikely to come until the late 2030s.
That’s because officials in New York and New Jersey expect it will take at least 11 years to construct a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River. Once that’s done, they’ll fix the 114-year-old tubes, which are becoming increasingly unreliable. The project overseen by the bistate Gateway Development Commission is on the verge of receiving a huge $6.88 billion federal grant, which is the largest ever given to a transit construction project. That’s not even half the project's $16 billion total price tag.
But as Gateway officials tout the latest milestone, train service is deteriorating.
Late last month, NJ Transit attributed meltdowns at Penn Station that affected tens of thousands of commuters late to problems with overhead electrical wires in the mile-long tunnel, which is owned by Amtrak.
Amtrak, for its part, said many of the issues were caused by faulty equipment atop NJ Transit’s aging fleet of trains.
Officials from both agencies last week agreed to perform more inspections to prevent the issues from further disrupting commutes. But that work is just a band-aid in the tunnel, which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The Regional Plan Association has warned it’s at risk of failing.
The Gateway Development Commission has said it can’t repair the existing tunnel (which has two tubes), until the new one is built.
That’s despite a 2020 consultant report published by the agency that found the old tunnel could be repaired on nights and weekends without fully shutting it down — similar to how the MTA fixed the L train tunnel.
That led critics — including the Daily News editorial board — to allege Gateway officials were putting off the fixes to justify the historic federal funding for the project, which is the most expensive public works project in the country.
Gateway spokesperson Steve Sigmund said the commission disagrees with that assessment — and that he couldn’t “answer the hypothetical of what happens if the existing tubes need to be shut down prior to the new tunnel opening.”
In the meantime, commuters will have to rely on the two transit agencies making good on their pledge to work together to keep the tunnel in working order, until there’s a new one.
Curious Commuter
Have a question for us? Curious Commuter questions are exclusive for On The Way newsletter subscribers. Sign up for free here and check Thursday’s newsletter for a link to submit your questions!
Question from Anya in Brooklyn
Why won't the MTA implement free out-of-station street transfers from the G train to nearby lines?
Answer
MTA spokesperson Mike Cortez said customers do get a free out-of-system transfer between the G at Broadway to the J, M and Z lines at the Hewes Street and Lorimer Street stations. Despite the “summer of pain” on the G train, transferring between the Fulton Street station and the nine subway lines that run through Atlantic Terminal will still cost money. The On The Way team suggested he could "be a hero" and offer riders a free transfer, but he declined to take us up on the suggestion.
The latest NYC area transit headlines
- State lawmakers are considering reducing the $15 base fare for congestion pricing in order to convince Gov. Kathy Hochul to unfreeze the program — but experts say that could be moot if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House and kills the tolls. Read more.
- The Rockaway Park Shuttle is extending its service during weekends this summer, allowing New Yorkers to connect to the beach-bound toot scoot at the Rockaway Boulevard station instead of Broad Channel. Read more.
- Dozens of protesters marched through Midtown last Saturday to mark what would’ve been the eve of congestion pricing’s start. Read more.
- The next day, Hochul showed up to the Pride March in an MTA T-shirt, which some congestion pricing advocates found a little distasteful considering the circumstances. Read more.
- MTA employees this week were handing out pamphlets to G train riders with information about shuttle buses and alternative routes while the train line is under construction this summer. Not everyone was happy. Read more.
- Under the city’s new budget deal, 1 million lower-income New Yorkers are now eligible for half-priced MetroCards through the Fair Fares program. Read more.
- Traffic deaths jumped by roughly 25% statewide in the period between 2019 and 2022, according to a new report from New York state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. Read more.
Tagged
manhattan
penn station
new jersey
transportation
On The Way
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].
Read more
Clayton Guse
Clayton is the editor of the Transit and Infrastructure desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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