New York’s ‘summer of hell’ won’t affect Boston—much

Amtrak will commence much-needed major repairs at New York’s Penn Station starting July 10 (the quasi-federal agency owns the transit hub). The repairs are expected to last nearly two months and to include the closure of a handful of tracks.

That means that delays and cancellations, and the crushing congestion that comes with both, will envelop Penn for some of the hottest days of the year.

But Boston-area residents will not feel anywhere near the brunt of what’s being called New York’s “summer of hell” transit-wise. Instead, the most noticeable inconvenience that Boston-based users of Penn Station might notice is more crowded Amtrak trains.

Why? Because Amtrak is cancelling three New York-to-Washington trains; and, per the Globe’s Adam Vaccaro, “more passengers between New York and Washington may be forced to squeeze aboard trains that start or end their journeys in Boston.”

Now, commuting via Amtrak from Boston to points north, south, and west will still come with the usual hassles—long lines, scruffy boarding procedures, that smell from the restrooms on the regionals.

But the impact from New York’s “summer of hell”? Minimal.

• Penn Station’s ‘summer of hell’ shouldn’t affect Boston passengers much, Amtrak says [Globe]