First Day of Penn Station Repairs Slows Travel To New York City

NEW YORK (AP) — The day of reckoning has come for rail commuters into New York City as Amtrak begins extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station.

Yet the early-morning commute got off to a smooth start.

Monday’s morning rush saw no crowds early on outside the Hoboken train and ferry stations, where New Jersey Transit is diverting some rush hour trains so passengers can switch to PATH trains or ferries.

New Jersey Transit spokesman Charles Ingoglie (ihn-GOH’-lee-uh) says the agency would like to think it’s quiet because “a lot of people did their homework.” He says some commuters also could be on vacation.

Service has been stepped up by trains, buses and ferries in anticipation of the busier commute.

Officials are waiting to see what happens as more commuters turn out throughout the morning.

Rail commuters into New York City are facing new routines:

There will be fewer trains during peak periods, the result of track closures in Penn Station.

NJ Transit executive director Steve Santoro says this “will not be a normal commute.”

The repairs were prompted by two recent derailments and other problems that spotlighted the station’s aging infrastructure.

Several hundred thousand commuters on the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit will also have to contend with fewer trains during peak periods.

The work is scheduled to last through the end of August.