Amtrak Disputes MTA on Penn Station Access Delay, Demands Retraction

A pointy disagreement over the causes of delays on the Penn Station Entry venture escalated Nov. 12 as Amtrak issued a proper response letter rejecting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s claims that the railroad is primarily chargeable for a three-year schedule slip on the $2.9-billion Metro-North enlargement into New York Penn Station.

The letter responds to an Oct. 27 discover from MTA Development & Improvement President Jamie Torres-Springer, who instructed the company’s Capital Program Committee that the venture—now about 39% full—is projected for substantial completion within the second quarter of 2030 versus the unique March 2027 goal. 

He attributed that delay “predominantly” to Amtrak, citing missed outage home windows and insufficient force-account staffing on the Metro North’s Hell Gate Line. ENR reported these assertions Oct. 28, together with the MTA’s warning that delay damages might exceed the $50-million cap within the shared-use settlement.

Amtrak: “It Exceeded Entry and Staffing Obligations”

Within the Nov. 12 letter and in a Nov. 4 interview with ENR, Amtrak Govt Vice President for Capital Supply Laura Mason acknowledges early entry and staffing challenges in 2022–23 however says the railroad has since “greater than met” its obligations below the 2021 Design-Construct Part and Price-Share Settlement.

“We struggled within the first 12 months, 12 months and a half… and we personal that,” she mentioned. “However since then and beginning in 2024, we have now been assembly our contract commitments on power account and assembly or exceeding the observe entry.”

In response to Amtrak, the railroad has granted two prolonged long-term outages—totaling 127 days and nonetheless ongoing—past the weekend closures envisioned within the venture’s outage tips, offering the Halmar Worldwide/RailWorks three way partnership “larger productiveness and extra durations” than weekend work permits. Amtrak says it now “constantly exceeds” required staffing ranges.

Mason argues these efforts have been overshadowed by delays the MTA didn’t spotlight publicly. She cites repeated contractor design and set up deficiencies, security incidents, early delays tied to CSX freight operations and a seven-month slip attributable to the MTA’s Eastbound Reroute venture. 

The mixture, she mentioned, creates overlapping delays that can’t fairly be attributed solely to Amtrak.

MTA Says, Amtrak Says

The MTA’s Oct. 27 committee supplies keep the venture’s $2.867-billion finances however say the baseline is “in danger” till each companies agree on a re-baseline. They define a plan to start restricted Metro-North service to new East Bronx stations in 2027—if Amtrak accepts extra aggressive outage patterns—whereas full four-track operations would transfer to 2030.

Laura Mason, Amtrak’s government vp for capital supply, says the railroad has exceeded staffing and outage commitments on the Penn Station Entry venture and disputes the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s claims that Amtrak is chargeable for the venture’s three-year delay.

Photograph courtesy of Amtrak

The supplies recount missed weekend outages and absent Amtrak crews within the venture’s early part and assert that “decisive motion” from Amtrak is required to revive schedule integrity.

The MTA, in a press release to ENR, mentioned it stands by these assessments.

“New Yorkers need Amtrak to be accountable for his or her shortcomings. We’re glad they are going to work with us to ship Metro-North service for East Bronx residents in 2027,” mentioned MTA Development and Improvement President Jamie Torres-Springer. “Bronxites have waited too lengthy whereas Amtrak trains roared by way of their neighborhoods with out stopping, and it should finish in 2027. LIRR is not going to scale back service to Penn due to Amtrak’s shortcomings.”

“On the identical time,” he added, “we’re upset Amtrak didn’t agree with a single one of many requests we made to get the everlasting venture again on observe of their response.”

The company additionally famous that its October 2025 Capital Program Committee report included findings from an impartial evaluator. “Amtrak acknowledged the primary drivers of delay of their response,” the MTA mentioned, “together with severely restricted outages, lack of assist workers and inconsistent guidelines governing how work will get carried out.”

Political stress adopted. On Oct. 30, U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY), joined by different New York and Connecticut Democrats, despatched a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris calling Penn Station Entry “a crucial transportation venture for your entire New York area” and urging cooperation to protect a 2027 service launch. 

The group requested a response by Nov. 12—the deadline that triggered Amtrak’s letter. Amtrak’s Oct. 28 public assertion additionally sought to border the venture as a shared accountability, noting greater than $140 million in investments and “important workers assets.”

In its response, Amtrak says the MTA has not offered key documentation associated to claims submitted by the Halmar-RailWorks three way partnership, together with executed contract amendments, schedule information and cost purposes. 

Amtrak writes that each companies had beforehand deliberate to collectively defend claims however now worries the MTA “doesn’t need to maintain HRJV accountable in any respect.”

The letter disputes the allegation that Amtrak slowed design evaluations, saying many submissions had been incomplete or out of compliance and that the contractor didn’t observe agreed packaging and timing protocols. It notes that 22 site-specific secure work plans stay with the MTA or contractor for correction—some courting again months.

Amtrak additionally raises considerations about what it describes as a “poisonous work tradition,” accusing the MTA of a “cycle of battle and retribution, together with public assaults on Amtrak,” and citing Part 30 of the cost-share settlement, which requires mutual consent earlier than public statements concerning the venture. The railroad calls for the MTA retract statements “particularly [Chairman] Lieber’s feedback that we’re in breach of contract.”

Regardless of the tensions, each companies agree on the necessity for a revised venture baseline. Amtrak says it has been calling for up to date outage tips and a brand new substantial-completion date since fall 2023.

However the potential re-baseline schedule submitted Aug. 29 by the contractor consists of assumptions—corresponding to expanded double-track outages and eliminating the one-week buffer between closures—that Amtrak says exceed its commitments.

Amtrak’s letter leaves the potential of service starting in 2027 open however outlines a number of situations: a brand new Northeast Hall Entry Settlement, a collectively authorized service schedule with the MTA and the Connecticut Division of Transportation and a discount in Lengthy Island Rail Highway service into Penn Station so further Metro-North trains don’t displace Amtrak or NJ Transit capability.

Amtrak additionally pushes again on the MTA’s demand that it share in further delay prices, saying the request is untimely with out full documentation of all delay sources, together with these tied to CSX, contractor efficiency and MTA-managed work. It cites Part 8(e) of the settlement, which assigns price will increase brought on solely by MTA C&D to the company.

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Federal funding can also be at stake. Amtrak notes that its contribution—and the Federal-State Partnership grant supporting the venture—depend upon together with state-of-good-repair work on the Northeast Hall. Vital scope reductions, it warns, may jeopardize federal compliance and shift further price to the MTA. Each companies describe Penn Station Entry as a transformative venture that may carry 4 ADA-accessible East Bronx stations, 19 miles of upgraded observe, energy and signaling enhancements and new connectivity between Metro-North’s New Haven Line and New York Penn Station. 

However when these advantages arrive hinges on how rapidly the MTA and Amtrak align on outages, staffing, threat allocation and re-baselining assumptions.

Mason says the bigger subject isn’t the back-and-forth between companies however what the general public is being instructed.

“The general public deserves higher, she says. “They deserve the entire story, not simply cherry-picked knowledge. Folks within the Bronx want leaders prepared to be clear about what’s actually occurring and what could be carried out about it.”