NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on the commute as rail repairs begin in New York City (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
Commuters leaving New York on the first day of a two-month repair project at the country’s busiest train hub are facing no known major problems.
The diversion of some New Jersey trains to Hoboken and the alternatives for Long Island Rail Road riders gave Penn Station the look of a routine Monday.
Commuters waited for track assignments and then squeezed down the narrow stairways to the platforms, as they would any other afternoon.
NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuters will have to contend with fewer trains during peak periods until the repairs are completed by the end of August.
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11 a.m.
Democratic senators from New York and New Jersey are calling on President Donald Trump to honor a commitment made under President Barack Obama to fund a project to build a second rail tunnel between the two states.
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Cory Booker spoke Monday near the spot on Manhattan’s west side where preliminary work has already begun.
Meanwhile, commuters Monday were experiencing the first day of reduced schedules to accommodate extensive track and signal repairs at Penn Station this summer.
A second tunnel would add capacity and ease overcrowding and delays.
Trump has proposed eliminating a grant program that was to pay for half of the tunnel project, which is currently estimated to cost about $13 billion.
Booker said it’s time for Trump to “put up or shut up.”
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10:10 a.m.
New York City rail commuters have gotten through their first morning with modified schedules while Amtrak begins extensive repairs in Penn Station prompted by two recent derailments and other problems.
New Jersey Transit spokesman Charles Ingoglia (ihn-GOH’-lee-uh) says Monday morning was a success, but there is room for improvement.
Ingoglia says at least 800 additional commuters took the new ferry service to midtown Manhattan.
He says the 7:23 train from Mt. Olive to Hoboken was too crowded so a multilevel train will be added to that route.
He says nearly all the passengers getting off NJ Transit trains were flooding into the same PATH entrance, leaving a second one much less crowded.
Brooklyn resident Celene Ryan says the changes have added an hour a day to her commute.
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9 a.m.
As a crowd of rail commuters heading into New York grows on the first day of extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station so, too, does the confusion.
After a smooth start early Monday, the halls leading from New Jersey Transit trains to PATH trains in Hoboken were packed for over an hour. Some commuters seemed bewildered by the new routine.
Lex Marshall of Morristown says there’s a lot of confusion and too many people gathered in one space. The 35-year-old says everybody’s just bumping into each other, pushing each other to get to their destination.
NJ Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuters will have to contend with fewer trains during peak periods until the repairs are completed by the end of August.
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8 a.m.
The early-morning commute into New York City got off to a smooth start as Amtrak began extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station.
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 Ingoglia (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.
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This item has been corrected to show the surname of NJ Transit’s spokesman is Ingoglia, not Ingoglie.
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6 a.m.
Rail commuters into New York City are facing new routines as Amtrak begins extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station.
The work began as Monday morning’s rush got off to a slow start for several hundred thousand commuters on the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit. They’ll have to contend with 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.”
NJ Transit is diverting some rush hour trains to Hoboken, where passengers can switch to PATH trains or ferries.
The LIRR is adding train cars to try and serve as many people as possible and is urging riders to switch to subways in Brooklyn and Queens.
The repairs are expected to last through August.
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12:30 a.m.
The day of reckoning has come for rail commuters into New York City.
Amtrak is beginning extensive repairs to tracks and signals in Penn Station Monday, 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 have to contend with fewer trains during peak periods, the result of track closures in Penn Station.
The work is scheduled to last through the end of August.
The LIRR is adding train cars to try and serve as many people as possible, and is urging riders to switch to subways in Brooklyn and Queens. New Jersey Transit is diverting some rush hour trains to Hoboken, where passengers can switch to PATH trains or ferries.
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