Amtrak makes case for shutting down East River tunnel for repairs

Nine stories below the East River, a 116-year-old rail tunnel connecting Long Island to Penn Station is showing its age and the lasting effects of Superstorm Sandy.

A steady stream of water pours onto the tracks from a leaky ceiling. Poor drainage causes water to pool, leading to signal troubles. Massive holes in concrete "bench walls" expose high-voltage power cables inside.

Properly repairing this damage is no easy task, and certainly not one that can be limited to nights and weekends, Amtrak officials said during a tour of the tunnel.

"We need to get in here soon. This is not something we want to keep holding off on," Amtrak senior principal project manager Dave Cooper said. He plucked at the walls at a key junction of the tunnel, and a chunk of brown, corroded steel crashed to the ground.

In the predawn hours Thursday morning, Amtrak gave members of the media a firsthand look at one of the battered East River tunnels ahead of its $1.6 billion plan to shut it down for more than a year to carry out its long-delayed repairs to damage caused by the 2012 storm.

For nearly 13 years, the corrosive saltwater that flooded two of the tubes is still eating away at the structures, contributing to service disruptions related to pieces of concrete falling onto tracks, electrical fires, broken rails and power failures, according to Amtrak, which owns and maintains the tunnels.

"The reliability of these tunnels is not going to get any better," Amtrak external affairs director Craig Schulz said during a tour stop. "We know these tunnels are aged. They’ve been damaged by Superstorm Sandy. And they are in urgent need of repair, replacement. The risk, I think, is that we continue to see degradation in the reliability of the service."

While supporting the $1.6 billion plan to repair and modernize the structures, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has pushed back against Amtrak’s plan to shut down two of the tunnels, each for more than a year at a time. MTA wants the work done on nights and weekends, and has said Amtrak's approach could snarl Long Island Rail Road commutes if there's a disruption in another tunnel.

Talking to reporters at Penn Station Thursday afternoon, LIRR president Robert Free likened Amtrak’s media tour of the tunnel damage to a car salesman who "pulls at your heartstrings, pulls at your emotions."

Free agreed that the worst of the damage in the tunnels needs to be addressed, but questioned the necessity of Amtrak’s plan to demolish the tunnels down to their concrete liner and rebuild them like new.

"What is absolutely essential, and only essential, to make sure those tunnels are in good condition?" Free said. "It’s like when you’re getting a home repair in your house. You have some plumbing work that needs to get done, and the next thing you know ... you need the whole house to be gutted and then all these repairs need to be done, when it was just a simple leak in your sink."

The closures are scheduled to begin May 23 and expected to last into late 2027.

Concerned that a 25% loss of tunnel capacity could result in major service disruptions for the LIRR, which runs most of the trains into and out of Penn, the MTA has implored Amtrak to limit its work to when ridership is at its lowest, including nights and weekends, so that all the tunnels are available during the busiest times.

Elected officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Mayor Eric Adams and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, have also spoken out against Amtrak’s plan, favoring a strategy that would lessen the impact on commuters.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.