NEW YORK (AP) – So far, so good.
Amtrak’s chief operations officer called the first week of summer-long track work and corresponding schedule cutbacks for commuters at Penn Station a success.
Friday marked the fifth day of major repairs that are closing tracks and forcing commuter rail lines to reduce schedules at the nation’s busiest train station, a critical part of the Northeast Corridor system. The work is to go through the end of August, Amtrak COO Scot Naparstek said.
“It’s been a very good week,” Naparstek said during a conference call with reporters. “People have responded very, very well. At the station level and the passenger level, we couldn’t have asked for any more.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, had predicted a “summer of hell” for commuters after plans for the repairs were announced this spring. But on Tuesday he praised the advance planning and said “the reports are all good.”