Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, nomis, FL9AC, Jeff Smith

  by JamesRR
 
With all of the chaos ensuing at New York Penn, it got me wondering - has GCT ever had a large track rebuilding program? How old (on average) are the interlockings (switches, equipment). Have individual station tracks ever been replaced? Or has it been gradually to avoid the meltdown Penn Station suffered?
  by Ridgefielder
 
I know they did a lot of work in the 1990's when the terminal headhouse and concourse was restored. IIRC it was the impending price tag for that rebuilding that spurred Amtrak to consolidate all NYC service into Penn.
  by DutchRailnut
 
work is ongoing as needed if you check most of time at least one track is out and operational wise a few switches will be out for maintenance.
  by Noel Weaver
 
Under present operations it is easier to cover for track outages at GCT than it is at Penn Station. Just about every station track can be accessed from the inbound tracks by using a different ladder or lead. For example you do not have a situation where 5 key tracks can only be accessed through one specific switch and ladder. Penn Station is handling way more trains through the west end of the station than was intended when it was designed and built. The two stations are very different when it comes to physical characteristics.
Noel Weaver