Day of reckoning for rail commuters arrives in New York

Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work on the tracks beneath Penn Station, Sunday, July 9, 2017, in New York. A massive two-month repair project will launch Monday at the country's busiest train station. The summer's accelerated repair work, prompted by two derailments this spring, will close some of the station's 21 tracks and require a roughly 20 percent reduction in the number of commuter trains coming in from New Jersey and Long Island. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) Amtrak workers continue ongoing infrastructure renewal work on the tracks beneath Penn Station, Sunday, July 9, 2017, in New York. A massive two-month repair project will launch Monday at the country's busiest train station. The summer's accelerated repair work, prompted by two derailments this spring, will close some of the station's 21 tracks and require a roughly 20 percent reduction in the number of commuter trains coming in from New Jersey and Long Island. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

By Associated Press July 10, 2017 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – The day of reckoning has come for rail commuters into New York City.

Amtrak is beginning extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station Monday, prompted by two recent derailments and other problems that spotlighted the station’s aging infrastructure.

Several hundred thousand commuters on the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit will have to contend with fewer trains during peak periods, the result of track closures in Penn Station.

The work is scheduled to last through the end of August.

The LIRR is adding train cars to try and serve as many people as possible, and is urging riders to switch to subways in Brooklyn and Queens. New Jersey Transit is diverting some rush hour trains to Hoboken, where passengers can switch to PATH trains or ferries.