Fights like this usually happen at Madison Square Garden — not below it.
The MTA blamed Amtrak on Wednesday for a “series of unacceptable infrastructure failures” ahead of the Penn Station derailment that caused chaos this week for tens of thousands of commuters.
Hours after enduring the MTA’s wrath, the railroad said it “hoped” to have Penn Station back to normal by Friday — but angry commuters weren’t holding their breath.
“The current state of affairs is simply unacceptable,” MTA Acting Chairman Fernando Ferrer and Interim Executive Director Veronique Hakim wrote to Amtrak President Charles Moorman.
“The increasing frequency of these failures leaves the clear impression that Amtrak is not aggressively maintaining its track, switches and related equipment at Penn Station and that repairs have not happened as swiftly as needed,” their letter said.
The two-page missive made note of “four equipment failures and accidents that have resulted in major delays” on Amtrak-owned tracks, including a derailment on March 24 and the one on Monday, which has crippled travel in and out of the massive transit hub.
It also said switch problems on March 6 created “major delays during the evening rush” and a downed overhead power cable caused an NJ Transit train to get stuck Tuesday in the East River Tunnel while heading to a Queens rail yard during the morning rush.
“I’m obviously frustrated,” griped LIRR customer Maggie Jablonowski, who had to call out of work Wednesday because two of her trains were canceled. “We pay so much money, but somehow things still don’t work and aren’t getting fixed.”
Lorie Mastronardi, an administrative assistant at an investment bank, said she had to leave work early — and lose out on overtime — because her regular train has been rerouted.
“If I did my job the way the MTA does I’d be fired,” she vented. “I really think they should take a cut in pay and the fare hikes should go to fixing the rails. We pay their salaries and we’re the ones who suffer.”
NJ Transit handed out notes commuters could give to their employers explaining they were late because of derailment delays.
Amtrak said its crews are “making good progress as they work as safely and quickly as possible to repair damage to one of the most complex interlockings on the Northeast Corridor.”
“Our crews hope to restore regular service to New York Penn Station by Friday,” spokesman Mike Tolbert said.
NJ Transit Executive Director Steve Santoro demanded that Amtrak inspect its infrastructure and “walk every inch of track at Penn Station.”
“The bottom line is Amtrak needs to step up to the plate. We’re funding them. We have an agreement to fund them,” said Santoro. “They need to take the conditions of — and the state of good repairs of — the Northeast Corridor seriously.”
Santoro said he’ll meet with the Federal Railroad Administration in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the MTA wants a formal meeting with Amtrak to discuss its infrastructure-maintenance policies and to review the current track assignment agreement implemented during major disruptions.
The morning rush-hour derailment og Track 9 Monday caused damage to a switch machine, which eliminated service on eight of 21 tracks — leaving NJ Transit, Amtrak and LIRR to split the rest of the tracks in operation and creating scores of delays and cancellations.
Additional reporting by Alex Taylor