Penn Station work done by September?

As we all know, Amtrak's track work that has thrown our commuting into chaos this summer is purported to be complete by September 1.  Has anybody seen any recent communications on the progress of the work and whether it is still on track for completion that date, or otherwise?  I would be pleasantly surprised if they actually finish by then.

I'm generally curious, but also the deadline for altering my Wageworks order for September is today so I'm trying to strategize accordingly.

TIA


NY Times reported a few weeks ago that the work is on schedule and is due to be completed by 9/4, which is Labor Day.


http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/17/08/06/amtrak-says-penn-station-repairs-likely-to-end-soon-after-labor-day/

AMTRAK SAYS PENN STATION REPAIRS LIKELY TO END SOON AFTER LABOR DAY

 | AUGUST 7, 2017

Upgrades right on schedule, agency says, but there might be more work needed after summer is over that could affect NJ Transit commuters




NJ Transit Update

Please be advised that Effective Tuesday, September 5, NJ TRANSIT plans to restore full rail service to and from Penn Station New York (PSNY) following the conclusion of Phase One of Amtrak’s track renewal project. All Morris & Essex Line Midtown Direct trains will resume service to and from PSNY and will no longer be diverted to Hoboken. North Jersey Coast Line trains will resume operating into Hoboken Terminal.

In anticipation of these schedules, effective Tuesday, September 5th, the Jitney service will be revised to coincide with the arrival of NJ Transit trains into Maplewood. Additionally in an effort to better serve our passengers, the Department of Public Works will be further amending the schedule so that the Jitney's arrival to the station will allot passengers more time to board the NJ Transit trains. Please check the schedules in the below link for the specific departure times from each jitney stop, and the arrival of the jitney to the station.

Jitney Schedule (Effective 9/5/2017) - http://twp.maplewood.nj.us/DocumentCenter/View/2815

Please also visit the NJ Transit website for updates: http://njtransit-theupdate.com/


The ticket agent said they can't sell the regular priced tickets till saturday.  So means most people will be buying tickets on tuesday morning.  My conductor said he probably will not collect tickets on Tuesday because too many people probably will not have a valid ticket.  

and the new schedules (which are the same as the pre-summer schedule) were not printed in time to get to the stations yet.  

Scary how no one at that agency is responsible for anything. 


Will the vending machines at the train stations have the correct tickets on Saturday?  If so, can riders in town over the weekend get their tickets that way?  Will electronic tickets and those obtained via mail subscription have the correct ticket for September?  If so, demand for tickets at the booth on Tuesday morning should not be as much of a problem as you seem to think. 


I bought a September monthly from a vending machine today.



j_r said:

I bought a September monthly from a vending machine today.

that is good to hear.  I wonder why they can update that software but not for the ticket agents?



the new tickets have been available on the app for at least a week



mikescott said:

j_r said:

I bought a September monthly from a vending machine today.
that is good to hear.  I wonder why they can update that software but not for the ticket agents?

Not sure this addresses the concern, because I think full-fare New York Penn passes were available all summer anyway and this was a station agent and not a conductor, but I bought a September monthly NYP pass at the Maplewood window yesterday.


Perhaps it was the Hoboken regularly priced ones that weren't available. Or the ticket agent is wrong. 



Yes, one cannot buy regular Hoboken tickets until tomorrow. I went to machine today and there was no option to buy any individual regular priced/normal senior discount, etc. tickets until tomorrow. That makes sense. But one can go to machine tomorrow and buy your monthly or whatever to Hoboken then. 



My spouse was able to purchase his Maplewood - Penn Station monthly for September with no problem. 


because it is Penn NOT HOBOKEN as I said above 


Sorry, missed that ... brain tired! (It's Friday.)



sac said:

Sorry, missed that ... brain tired! (It's Friday.)

Understandable. I just didn't want your post to be the last one since apparently others were confused as well, including perhaps the Ticket Agent depending on what type of ticket had been asked about to purchase prior to today.

So as of today, if you intend to go back and buy any type of Hoboken ticket - monthly, weekly, senior discount, etc. go forth and buy now. Unfortunately not at the deep deep discount that they offered on all types for July and August.


I am late to this thread, but will my prepaid roundtrip tickets to NYC Penn Station that I bought in the spring on the NJ Transit app still be fully paid and valid?


The problem being discussed above results from the deep discount given to purchase of HOBOKEN tickets over the summer period ending September 1, 2017.  There never was a discount placed on Penn Station NY tickets during this period.  Therefore, a Penn Station ticket with no expiration date or one with an expiration date later than the date you use it should be fine.  I have NJT tickets with no expiration date that I purchased five years ago that are still accepted.



Jasmo said:

I am late to this thread, but will my prepaid roundtrip tickets to NYC Penn Station that I bought in the spring on the NJ Transit app still be fully paid and valid?

Short answer: yes. Joan answered too but longer.  grin 


The only tickets that will no longer be honored are the discounted Hoboken tickets.  I believe they expired September 1st.

In the now distant past, NJT tickets used to always have expiration dates.  They eliminated those when they eliminated the peak/off-peak pricing differential a few years ago.



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