Wilmington Amtrak passengers will see more train service as work was completed at New York’s Penn Station.
Amtrak announced the project was completed on time.
The passenger rail service kept its upscale Acela Express service while cutting back on regional trains. Wilmington ranks in the top 20 in passenger traffic.
“Amtrak is accelerating its work to improve conditions and reliability of the tracks at Penn Station during the summer,” said Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman earlier this summer. “While we regret that this work requires some reduction in train service and disruption to passengers over the summer months, we believe it will ultimately be worth the investment in terms of increased reliability of passenger rail travel. In addition, while Amtrak’s own service at Penn Station will face the largest impact of the three railroads in terms of proportional reductions in train service during the work period, we will use all the tools we can, such as lengthening trains, to continue to provide capacity for our intercity travelers going to or from New York.”
The Infrastructure Renewal work accelerates several years of already planned improvement of track, switch and other infrastructure at Penn Station to improve track conditions.
The potential delays for commuters were dubbed the “Summer from Hell.”
Additional work will last through approximately June 2018, with most of it taking place on weekends, resulting in minimal impacts to service.
The work is designed to address the reliability issues caused by the significant growth in train volumes at New York Penn Station coupled with its aging infrastructure.
Penn Station has seen a nearly 3 million passenger increase in just over 10 years. More than 10.4 million intercity passengers annually; more than 450,000 intercity and commuter rail passenger trips daily; and more than 1,300 train movements per weekday travel through Penn Station.
