‘Summer of hell’ not so bad

Normal service returns Tuesday at Penn Station

NEW YORK - It was billed as the “summer of hell.” Thankfully, it was more like the summer of “meh,” New York rail commuters say.

Amtrak wrapped up an extensive summertime track repair project at New York’s Penn Station on Thursday that officials had warned could create an infernal bottleneck in the nation’s busiest rail hub.

Predictions back in the spring, when the station had just gone through a series of major disruptions related to train derailments, couldn’t have been more dire. Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said track closures and service reductions for the maintenance work would be a “potential crisis” and told rail riders to brace for a “summer of hell.”

But now that the repairs have been completed and normal service is returning Tuesday on Amtrak and the two regional railroads that also serve Penn Station, many riders say their commutes have been surprisingly fine. They’ve been better than normal, actually.

“I’ve been commuting out of Jersey for two years now and this is the best it’s ever been,” said Christina Jantzen, an executive assistant from Wayne, New Jersey. She said her New Jersey Transit trains have been arriving on time, if not early.

Wanda Phillips, also a New Jersey Transit rider, said she had prepared herself for a bad summer but was pleasantly surprised. “It was all good. Got a seat and everything,” she said.

“It’s been a summer of fun,” said Long Island Rail Road rider Dylan Mitchell. Mitchell, a lawyer, said he didn’t experience delays or crowded trains on his daily commute from Manhasset to Penn Station.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Joe Lhota, who is in charge of the Long Island Rail Road, said the railroad’s July on-time percentage was not only higher than July of 2016 but higher than any other month to date in 2017.