Penn Station To Reopen As Amtrak Admits It Ignored Problems

PENN STATION, NY — Penn Station will be restored to full service by Friday morning, Amtrak's CEO promised on Thursday after four days of extensive train delays caused by a track derailment at the station.

"I am confident that we will have full service for rush hour tomorrow morning," Amtrak CEO Wick Moorman promised at a press conference in the station.

An NJ Transit train derailed during Monday's rush hour, causing crippling delays to trains traveling through the transit hub, including the LIRR and Amtrak. Amtrak owns and operates the majority of the tracks at New York Penn Station.

Monday's derailment was apparently caused by "defective wood ties" on the tracks, according to Moorman.

"We had a section where the timbers, the cross ties under the track, were somewhat weak," he explained. "As a result the train came through and it essentially shoved the rails apart and one or two wheels...additionally fell in."

The Amtrak head admitted that a previous review had indicated that the wood ties were weak, but investigators wrongly believed there would be no imminent problems.

"Clearly that was something where we got it wrong," he said.

Moorman personally apologized to commuters for the multiple days of delays, which doubled some commuters' travel times. During the morning and evening rush hours, trains were outright canceled or severely delayed.

"It’s our job to make sure that commuters and intercity passengers can safely and reliably travel along the Northeast Corridor and we know we let them down with these recent derailments," he said. "Our customers and partners deserve better."

He described the damage from Monday's derailment as an "extraordinary amount of damage in a very, very confined area."

Moorman also responded to the barrage of criticism his company faced on Wednesday, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's threat to cease payment from NJ Transit to Amtrak until an independent investigation found the station in good condition. Christie also directed the state's attorney general to investigate any possible legal action against Amtrak to recover past payments made by NJ Transit. Christie's fiery statements came after a muted response to the first two days of Penn Station chaos.

"I understand the governor is upset and he has a right to be upset," Moorman said on Thursday in response. "I will say that withdrawing funding is not going to solve any problems."

Monday's derailment was the second one at the station in as many weeks. On March 24, an Amtrak Acela train sideswiped an NJ Transit train. Moorman said the March derailment was caused by a "mismatch" between two pieces of rail that caused a wheel to fall off.

Amtrak promised on Thursday a review of Penn Station, jointly launched with federal railroad investigators, and as well as a review of Amtrak's maintenance practices and engineering department. Moorman also pledged that the results of the investigation into Penn's infrastructure would be shared with NJ Transit and the LIRR, which is operated by the MTA.

This story has been updated throughout.

Lead image: Amtrak engineers investigating Monday's train derailment, which the company said occurred at "one of the most complex interlockings" in the whole Northeast Corridor. Image courtesy of Amtrak.