Transit & Streets Active Updated Aug 19, 2026
The East River tunnel rebuild
Amtrak is rebuilding two Hurricane Sandy-damaged East River rail tunnels that carry Amtrak, LIRR and NJ Transit trains into Penn Station, in a $1.6 billion, two-phase project. The first phase, a 15-month shutdown of one tunnel that cut LIRR peak-hour service into Penn by 20%, just finished; the second phase closes the remaining damaged tunnel this fall through the end of 2027, again squeezing capacity for all three railroads.
The story so far
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Aug 19, 2026 Latest
Amtrak completed the first phase of its $1.6 billion rebuild of two Hurricane Sandy-damaged East River tunnels, reopening the repaired Line 2 tunnel after a 15-month shutdown that had cut LIRR peak-hour service into Penn Station by 20%. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said the closure meant riders faced more crowding and that he had urged Amtrak to do nights-and-weekends repairs instead.
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