we remain troubled that the Penn Station Access project is delayed and urge Amtrak to take every action needed to ensure that Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad can begin delivering service to our constituents as soon as possible
Urge Amtrak to prioritize Penn Station Access so Metro-North service to Connecticut can begin as soon as possible, ideally by early 2029.
Occurrences
Providing direct access to Penn Station for the Metro-North riders of Southwestern Connecticut must be a priority for Amtrak ... Amtrak and MTA should do everything in their power to get this project over the finish line by early 2029.
Representatives Jim Himes, Rosa DeLauro, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ritchie Torres, and George Latimer sent a letter to Roger ... urging Amtrak to prioritize Penn Station Access and reimburse MTA for delay costs.
Evidence
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The Latest News item on the member’s homepage is titled “Himes, DeLauro, Ocasio-Cortez, Torres, and Latimer Urge Amtrak to Prioritize Penn Station Access and Reimburse MTA for Delay Costs,” dated “Yesterday,” indicating a fresh congressional advocacy action on the issue within the lookback window.
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The MTA project page says Penn Station Access is in construction, was updated Apr 16, 2026, and now lists “2030: Current estimated completion date.” It also states the project would create four new accessible stations and new service from Metro-North’s New Haven Line to Penn Station via Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line.
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Official House press release says Himes and other members sent a letter to Amtrak urging the agency to ensure Metro-North service to constituents in the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut can begin as soon as possible and to prioritize the work needed for full service by early 2029.
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The MTA project page, updated June 1, 2026, says Penn Station Access is still in construction and lists 2030 as the current estimated completion date for the Metro-North New Haven Line extension to Penn Station via Amtrak's Hell Gate Line.
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Representatives Jim Himes and others sent a letter to Amtrak President Roger Harris urging Amtrak to take every action needed so MTA Metro-North can begin service to the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut as soon as possible. The release says the letter called on Amtrak to prioritize capital work needed for full service by early 2029 and address delay costs.
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Amtrak’s public board transcript describes Penn Station Access as an MTA-led project with Amtrak as a partner and says Amtrak was doing a significant double-block outage for the project, with further outages expected roughly mid-May to mid-November to support bridge replacement plus track and systems installation.
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“The letter calls on Amtrak to prioritize the capital work necessary to achieve full service by early 2029”
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“The project is approximately 39% complete”
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“substantial completion of the Penn Station Access project in March 2030”
Assessments
The promise was specifically to urge Amtrak to prioritize Penn Station Access so Metro-North service to Connecticut could begin as soon as possible, ideally by early 2029. The House evidence shows Himes joined a May 15, 2026 letter to Amtrak making that exact request, including prioritizing capital work for full service by early 2029 and addressing delay costs. The underlying project remains unfinished and now has a 2030 estimated completion date, but that does not defeat this claim because the promised action was advocacy to Amtrak, not completion of the service itself.
The promise was framed as an advocacy commitment: to urge Amtrak to prioritize Penn Station Access. Official House evidence shows James Himes and other members did exactly that in a May 15, 2026 letter pressing Amtrak to prioritize the work and support full service by early 2029. The broader project itself was not finished and the official completion estimate had slipped to 2030, so the desired transit outcome was not yet achieved. But under the stated standard, Himes fulfilled the promised federal action by taking the specific urging step, even though the underlying infrastructure timeline remained outside his direct control.
Himes appears to have acted on the promise by publicly urging Amtrak, along with other members, to prioritize Penn Station Access. However, the promised result was that Metro-North service to Connecticut begin as soon as possible, ideally by early 2029. The best available project evidence shows Penn Station Access is still under construction and the current estimated completion date is 2030, meaning the specific outcome has not yet been achieved on the promised timetable. Because there is clear advocacy effort by Himes but no completed delivery of service by early 2029, this is best scored as partial rather than delivered.