Amtrak announces plans to reduce trains during Penn Station repairs

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Amtrak has announced plans to reduce train service out of New York City as part of extensive repair work on tracks at Penn Station that's expected to inconvenience thousands of rail commuters this summer.

Northeast Regional Service will be cut in half between New York City and Washington during the week, while Keystone Service from Pennsylvania will start and end in Philadelphia with the exception of one round-trip train, which will travel to Newark, New Jersey.

More information is available at www.amtrak.com/NYPrenewal.

Below is a summary of the changes to Amtrak's weekday schedule in effect from July 10 - Sept. 1:

Acela Express: No changes

Northeast Regional Service: Three round trip trains (six total trains) between New York City and Washington, D.C. canceled. Service between New York City and Boston will operate at currently scheduled levels.

Keystone Service: Three round trip trains (six total trains) will start and end in Philadelphia, and one round trip train (two total trains) will start and end at Newark, New Jersey. Service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg will operate at currently scheduled levels.

Empire Service: To be announced shortly.

Long-Distance Service: The Crescent, operating between New York City and New Orleans, will originate and terminate in Washington, D.C. daily during work period. Connections will be provided on other Northeast Corridor trains.

Amtrak's reservation systems have been updated to reflect these schedule changes and any passenger already booked on a train that has been canceled or altered will be contacted and accommodated on other scheduled services.

A power problem left two Long Island Rail Road trains stranded in an East River tunnel for over an hour on Tuesday and resulted in systemwide morning rush-hour delays, continuing a litany of recent woes that have plagued LIRR and New Jersey Transit commuters who use Penn Station.