sent a letter to Roger Harris, President of Amtrak, urging the agency to take every action needed to ensure that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad can begin delivering service to constituents in the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut as soon as possible
Urge Amtrak to take every action needed to ensure the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North Railroad can begin delivering service to constituents in the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut as soon as possible.
Occurrences
Torres joined a multi-member letter urging Amtrak to prioritize the Penn Station Access project so Metro-North service can begin in the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut as soon as possible.
Rep. Torres, ... sent a letter to Roger Harris, President of Amtrak, urging the agency to take every action needed to ensure that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad can begin delivering service to constituents
Evidence
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressmembers Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), George Latimer (NY-16), Jim Himes (CT-04), and Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) sent a letter to Roger Harris, President of Amtrak, urging the agency to take every action needed to ensure that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad can begin delivering service to constituents in the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut as soon as possible. The letter calls on Amtrak to prioritize the capital work necessary to achieve full service by early 2029 and to reach an agreement with the MTA on reimbursing the potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in delay costs caused by Amtrak.
Amtrak is coordinating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to support the Penn Station Access Project on the Hell Gate Line. This project will transform the region by constructing four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx and allowing Metro-North trains to travel to New York Penn Station for the first time. When completed in 2027, Amtrak and Metro-North customers will benefit from improved reliability, faster travel times, and more travel options. Amtrak will be providing track outages to support MTA crews and contractors working on the Hell Gate Line infrastructure upgrades and bringing the line into a state of good repair.
The MTA is advancing an extension of Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line to reach Penn Station. This will create four new accessible stations, improve existing tracks and bridges, and will cut travel times from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. Status: Construction. The timeline lists July 2025: Leggett Interlocking commissioned and 2030: Current estimated completion date. The project includes work necessary to bring Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line into a state of good repair.
Assessments
The promise was to urge Amtrak to take action so Metro-North service could begin as soon as possible. Evidence shows Torres did make that advocacy effort by signing and sending a 2026 letter to Amtrak leadership pressing prioritization of the Penn Station Access project and reimbursement for delays. However, the promised real-world result—Metro-North beginning service to the Bronx, Westchester, and Connecticut via this project—has not yet happened. Amtrak and MTA sources both describe the project as still under construction, with completion pushed into 2027-2030. Because Torres has clearly acted to advance the promise but the outcome remains pending, this is unresolved rather than delivered or never.