Amtrak photo

Water leaks are common in the tunnel.

Amtrak crews kicked off the first long-term track outage in support of the East River Tunnel Rehabilitation Project (ERT Rehab), a critical infrastructure investment that will restore the two tunnel tubes damaged by Superstorm Sandy (Line 1 & Line 2).

This is Amtrak's largest planned outage in recent history, an important undertaken planned in coordination with our partners over several years.

While still structurally sound and safe for passenger use, the reliability of the systems inside the tubes has continued to deteriorate since the 2012 storm. The century-old tunnels have reached the end of their useful lives and must be completely rehabilitated for another 100 years of service.

The ERT Rehab project will involve demolishing the existing tunnel systems down to concrete liners, then reconstructing the tunnels with modern tunnel systems. The work will take place in one tunnel tube at a time under a full closure for maximum efficiency.

Throughout the project, three of the four East River Tunnels will remain available for service to ensure continued Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road, and NJ TRANSIT service. Amtrak crews are on standby throughout the Penn Station complex to respond quickly to any emergencies and minimize the impact of the track outage to the maximum extent possible. We appreciate the cooperation of our partners in modifying schedules and operations to accommodate the work.

Preparation Activities, Mitigation Efforts (Line 1)

In the months and years leading up to the long-term outage that began over Memorial Day weekend, Amtrak has proactively performed work in the tunnels that will remain open to prepare them for additional traffic and reduce the risk of infrastructure failures during the three-track operation.

This work has included repairing damaged sections of benchwall, sealing the tunnel liner to prevent water infiltration, replacing third rail and making signal and power upgrades throughout Lines 1, 3 and 4.

With mitigation work completed in Lines 3 and 4, crews are using the first 10 days of the long-term outage to complete remaining mitigations focused on final "hardening" of the infrastructure in Line 1.

This work — which began over Memorial Day weekend and incurred no interruptions to planned service — includes power cable relocation and block tie replacements.

Service Commitments

Amtrak reiterated its commitment to minimizing impacts to passengers throughout the project, including the transition from Line 1 to Line 2 in late May 2025. This includes Amtrak's detailed plan to provide around-the-clock engineering coverage during the outage, more frequent inspections as track access time permits, strategically positioned rescue equipment and more.

LIRR and NJ TRANSIT will closely monitor service during construction and make modifications to the plan, if needed, to ensure reliability of passenger service while fixing this critical infrastructure.

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