Amtrak’s Sandy failure: Long after all other rail tunnels have been repaired, Amtrak hasn’t even started

When the torrential rains and whipping winds and surging tides from Superstorm Sandy subsided 10 years ago, most of the rail and road tunnels connecting our archipelago were flooded with corroding salt water. Then the pumping and the repairs began.

The Holland, Brooklyn–Battery and Queens-Midtown tunnels were all dried out and cleaned fairly quickly. The electric train tubes were more complicated and took more time.

First to be fully rehabbed was the R train’s Montague Tunnel under the East River, finished in 2014. Then the G’s train Greenpoint Tunnel under Newtown Creek, also in 2014. Next was the Steinway Tunnel, for the No. 7, in 2016. In 2017, repairs were wrapped up on the Cranberry tubes for A/C trains, the Joralemon St. tubes (4/5) and the 53rd St. Tunnel used by the E/M. The Clark St. tubes, carrying the 2/3 were completed in 2018. All of those tunnels (with two tubes each) were closed to allow the repairs.

But then, facing the extended closure of the L train’s Canarsie Tunnel, the MTA, pushed by Gov. Cuomo, learned from others and understood the value of making repairs nights and weekends, while preserving full rush-hour service. The L train job was completed ahead of schedule and under budget in 2020 without inconveniencing riders. The final set of subway tubes, the F train’s Rutgers Tunnel, was also done using repair-in-place, in 2021. In all, nine MTA train tunnels (18 tubes), as good as new.

What remains? A decade after Sandy, there are four more tubes, owned by Amtrak, two under the East River and two under the Hudson, and the railroad still hasn’t begun permanent repairs yet on any of them. The East River job won’t begin until 2024, perhaps, and the Hudson tubes will wait to 2035. Then add in three years for the work, bringing us to 2027 and 2038. Even though the four damaged tubes can be fully fixed using the same repair-in-place method, Amtrak refuses, escalating costs and putting service at risk for the LIRR, NJTransit and Amtrak. How can this be happening?