Amtrak announced Thursday that eight weeks of emergency track and switch repairs at Penn Station are complete.
"On time, on schedule, and, most importantly, with no major safety incidents," said Scot Naparstek, Amtrak's executive vice president of operations.
A pair of derailments last spring triggered the repairs, forcing the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to cancel or reroute more than two dozen rush hour trains at the country's busiest train station. New Jersey Transit and Amtrak also adjusted service.
Crews rebuilt the winding set of tracks known as the A Interlocking, where trains from all three railroads are routed in and out of the station.
Regular service on the LIRR resumes Tuesday.
Expanded bus and ferry service is scheduled to end, as will free subway transfers for Long Island Railroad riders getting off at Jamaica Station and Hunterspoint Ave. in Queens, and at Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn.
But officials concede that needed improvements are far from over at an already stretched-to-capacity Penn Station, with more work set to be done mostly on weekends into next year.
The MTA, meanwhile, touted a relatively smooth season at Penn Station.
MTA chairman Joe Lhota said service on the LIRR was better in July than any other month of the year, despite a nearly 20 percent reduction in train service due to the repairs.
The MTA hopes its experiences this summer will help with other transit issues.
"The lessons learned are really an exercise in good management, how to make decisions quickly, how to coordinate communication with our customers," Lhota said. "Communication regardless it's on the railroads, subway system, or buses, is very, very important."
Photo above courtesy Amtrak.