New York governor urges Trump to provide emergency funds for Penn Station

[May 22, 2017]  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo urged President Donald Trump on Sunday to treat disruptions in train service at Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station as an emergency and provide federal aid to fix what he termed deplorable conditions at the transit hub.

Cuomo said 600,000 daily commuters who use rail service at Penn faced a "summer of agony" if essential track repairs were left under the control of Amtrak, which operates the nation's busiest train station. In addition to Amtrak's intercity service, trains operated by New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road run into and out of the station.

"I request that the federal government treat this as an emergency situation and provide funding for the short-term Penn construction and transportation alternatives and facilitation of a long-term resolution for Penn Station," Cuomo wrote in a letter to Trump that the governor's office released in an email.

Amtrak has come under fire in recent weeks after a pair of derailments that disrupted travel for hundreds of thousands of commuters. Since then, deteriorating track conditions at Penn Station have triggered daily service delays and cancellations.

The subsequent overcrowding of the Midtown Manhattan station has created "near riot" conditions for stranded commuters, wrote Cuomo, considered a likely contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said the letter had been received. "We look forward to continuing conversations with communities across America about the importance in improving our nation’s infrastructure," she said in an email.

Cuomo, who has emerged as a champion of New York infrastructure projects in his two terms as governor, urged the Republican president to consider including an overhaul of the station in his $1 trillion plan for federal infrastructure investments.

Travelers make their way through a busy Pennsylvania Station in the Manhattan borough of New York City, November 25, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar

As an alternative to Amtrak, "we would be open to considering a number of options," said Cuomo, noting the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey could do a better job at overseeing the necessary repairs and renovations. The Port Authority operates the region's airports and many of its bridges and tunnels.

He raised doubts about Amtrak's pledge to complete necessary track repairs in six weeks this summer, a project that will require a 20 percent reduction in train service during peak hours.

Since taking office in 2011, Cuomo has presided over the long-delayed opening of New York's Second Avenue subway, a renovation of LaGuardia Airport and replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River, among other projects.

(Editing by Frank McGurty and Peter Cooney)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.