Penn hell on wheels ending

AMTRAK, DEFYING the low expectations riders and pretty much everyone else set for it, said full service is coming back to Penn Station on Tuesday — putting a timely end to the so-called Summer of Hell.

At Penn on Thursday, Amtrak operations chief Scot Naparstek said eight weeks of rush-hour repairs will be completed on schedule — with 360 workers putting in 1,296 hours.

Naparstek thanked Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit commuters who showed “amazing patience, flexibility” in changing their routes and routines to deal with track constraints over the summer.

Amtrak had to take tracks out of service to repair a section known as the A interlocking, which controls the flow of trains traveling in and out of Penn Station from the Hudson River tunnel and West Side train yard. The work required nearly 900 new track ties, more than 1,000 feet of rails and 176 yards of concrete.

There is still more work to be done at Penn, and Amtrak will be doing it on the weekends. The national rail agency also will update its waiting areas and rest rooms.

“We’re very proud to stand in this room today saying, we delivered,” Naparstek said.

But, he added, “That doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels.”