Penn Station’s Track 18 will temporarily be taken out of service beginning Monday as Amtrak enters the next stage of its ongoing Penn Station renewal work, according to officials for the railroad and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
With Track 15 reconstructed and placed back in service last month, the railroad will now begin its third and final leg of the project involving Track 18. It will require similar repairs made to Track 15, including “localized concrete demolition” as well as a replacement of track ties and rails, according to Amtrak.
The closure of Track 18 will end a several-weeks-long stint of the project during which the Long Island Rail Road was able to operate on all of its usual tracks at the commuter hub.
Meanwhile, Amtrak has also been working on the second leg of repairs focused on Penn’s “C” Interlocking — a complex of track switches to the east of the train platforms. The railroad is renewing and replacing three turnouts there that direct Amtrak and LIRR trains to eastbound routes and the Sunnyside rail yard. That work is taking place during a series of weekend outages, which began March 2 and will run through the remainder of the project.
Amtrak’s upgrades are mostly being carried out during weekends, though the work has required the rerouting of eight of 184 rush-hour LIRR trains. Construction has been moving on schedule and Amtrak has said it will finish the project by May 28.
