Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 31 July 2017

Penn Station repairs not addressing this commuters’ bane

By DAVID PORTER police used a stun gun to
Associated Press subdue an unruly person.
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a Eleven days later, a dis-
question that has weighed abled Amtrak train in the
on the minds of countless Hudson River tunnel and,
commuters, usually as they the same day, electrical
sit in a stalled train in one problems in the East River
of the tunnels heading into tunnel caused widespread
the nation’s busiest train delays and forced some
station: Why does help trains to be cancelled.
seem to take so long to ar- Young described a proto-
rive? col for rescuing trains from
It’s an issue that will per- the tunnel that starts with
sist long after Amtrak a 15-minute period for the
completes this summer’s train’s conductor and en-
extensive repairs (and gineer to troubleshoot the
corresponding schedule problem to see if it can be
cutbacks) at Penn Station. corrected. If it can’t, orders
A linchpin in the northeast- are relayed to a crew on a
ern U.S.’ rail system, the sta- rescue locomotive stand-
tion is undergoing acceler- ing by in the station. Two
ated repair work this month locomotives, one that can
and next to replace sever- run on diesel power and
al thousand feet of track, People work at the Penn Station Central Control for Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road in New the other on electric pow-
switches and other aging York. A disabled train’s exact location can be pinpointed on the control center’s big board, a er, are available.
maze of multicolored lines and symbols denoting tracks, trains, restricted work areas and other
infrastructure. The speedup features. Fire department and EMS
was prompted by two de- (AP Photo/Richard Drew) personal also are called to
railments in the station this and in the East River tunnel “A very good rescue, and electrical wires — part of the scene as a precaution.
spring that wreaked havoc carrying trains to and from this is on an open track a system that dates to the “If it’s hot and you lose
on rail service between Long Island. and at that time of day, 1930s in some places — power, you lose air condi-
Boston and Washington, At peak times, when 24 is 45 minutes to an hour,” in excessively cold or hot tioning; if it’s cold, you lose
D.C. trains per hour move in and Steven Young, Amtrak’s weather. heat; if you lose lights, it’s
While the summer repairs out of Penn Station, a dis- deputy general manager Trains also break down on dark,” Young said. “It gets
are expected to greatly abled train in one of the of its New York division, their own, as a New Jersey people unnerved. We’ve
reduce the chances for Hudson River tunnel’s two said last week as he stood Transit train carrying 1,200 found that whether you
more derailments, they tubes can lead to misery for overlooking the station’s passengers did on the eve- need them or not, people
won’t address another of hundreds of thousands of control center, located in a ning of April 14. are more comfortable
the station’s fundamental commuters. But significant nondescript building about That incident led to delays when they come off the
problems: breakdowns in delays can occur even a block away from the sta- of up to three hours and train and onto the platform
the cramped, 111-year- if a train breaks down in tion. produced a stampede at and the fire and EMS are
old tunnel under the Hud- the tunnel during off-peak Often, these are caused by the station when delayed standing there. They don’t
son River from New Jersey, times. malfunctions of overhead commuters panicked after mind it, so we do it.”q