Amtrak, NJ Transit say they fixed equipment that plagued Penn Station commutes

NJ Transit and Amtrak on Tuesday declared they’re on track to fix the infrastructure issues that sparked chronic service meltdowns at Penn Station last year.

The railroads, which share tracks between New York and New Jersey, described $12 million worth of upgrades and repairs to “hot spots” of tracks near the Midtown train hub and Secaucus where equipment frequently breaks down.

The agencies reported they’ve inspected and repaired the overhead wires used to power NJ Transit and Amtrak trains. Officials from NJ Transit blamed problems with those wires for repeatedly halting service in and out of Manhattan last year.

“Over the past year, we have been working diligently to address many of the issues that riders endured during the summer of 2024,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy wrote in a statement.

Still, the agencies warned riders aren’t out of the woods yet, noting they plan 12 more weeks of construction-related service disruptions leading into the summer.

Rachel Weinberger, transportation chair at the Regional Plan Association, said she was hopeful the repairs would actually lead to more reliable train service.

“ I would certainly like to believe them,” Weinberger said. “The system is so incredibly outdated. So many components are at the edge of failure.”

NJ Transit and Amtrak attributed some of last year’s infrastructure problems to the extreme summer heat. The service problems grew worse as NJ Transit implemented a 15% fare hike — and complaints by riders prompted Murphy to order the railroad fare-free for an entire week in September.

Amtrak officials hope to make even more repairs to tracks and infrastructure in New York and New Jersey through a $112 million grant pledged by the Federal Railway Administration during the Biden administration — but officials with the railroad said the Trump administration might rescind that money.

“We understand that the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Railroad Administration are currently reviewing all unobligated grant awards for alignment with the goals and priorities of the new Administration,” Amtrak spokesperson Jason Abrams wrote in an email.

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner abruptly resigned from his post last month. His successor has not yet been named.