Amtrak service between New York City and Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County is expected to be partially restored by Thursday morning and possibly fully restored by Friday night, the rail company said Tuesday — a welcome relief for commuters who rely on the service to get to and from Albany.
Trains have not been running between Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station and the Croton-Harmon station since Sunday, after a parking garage in Hell’s Kitchen that sits above the railroad tracks was deemed structurally unsafe. Amtrak has been directing passengers to take Metro-North at Grand Central Terminal and Croton-Harmon as an alternative, and Metro-North is honoring their Amtrak tickets.
An engineer for the owner of the parking garage called 911 last Friday to report the issues there. Engineers for the city Department of Buildings and Amtrak later found two holes in the garage’s ramps and cracks in its steel beams, leading Amtrak to suspend service on the affected portion of its Empire Line.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings said the agency received shoring and repair plans from the property owner’s engineers on Monday afternoon and approved them that evening. The work then started at the site on Tuesday morning, he said.
According to the DOB, enough of the work will be done to open one of the two Amtrak tracks by Wednesday evening, allowing trails to run on the line by early Thursday morning. More repairs will continue, and the second line could open by Friday evening, the DOB said.