(The following story by Steve Ritea appeared on the Newsday website on January 17.)
NEW YORK — Sources familiar with this week’s talks between Amtrak and its unions said they expect to make an announcement today.
Although both sides have agreed to a media blackout during negotiations, officials keeping close tabs on the talks said they’ve been told discussions are going well and they expect a Penn Station shutdown will be averted.
Amtrak operates Penn Station. Although its management resumed talks with unions this week, the railroad’s workers — without a contract since 2000 — could strike as soon as Jan. 30, when the federally mandated cooling-off period ends.
Meanwhile, New York’s senators were applying pressure on both sides, and agencies beyond the Long Island Rail Road said they still were at work on contingency plans in case of a strike.
“With higher-than-ever gas prices and maddening flight delays, a total rail shutdown is the last thing people need,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote in letters to Amtrak and its unions.
In his letter, Schumer urged both sides to accept recommendations issued by an emergency board that President George W. Bush appointed to help resolve the dispute and “reach a final agreement as quickly as possible.”
The office of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) took a momentary break from campaign mode to issue a statement encouraging “all parties involved to negotiate in good faith” and swiftly resolve their dispute.
Officials with the state Department of Transportation, MTA Bridges and Tunnels and New York City’s Office of Emergency Management all were making plans in case a substantial number of commuters abandoned a strike-affected Long Island Rail Road and crowded onto roadways instead.
The LIRR announced earlier this week that a Penn Station shutdown would require commuters to transfer to subways in Queens and Brooklyn, a scenario that could force some to abandon trains entirely.
In preparation for more crowded highways, state DOT spokeswoman Carol Breen said the department would place portable electronic signs along interstates and parkways warning of increased congestion. The state also could provide information over their Highway Advisory Radio station, at 530 AM.
“It’s hard to predict how many more cars will be on the road,” Breen said, “but we don’t believe the situation would be so severe that we’d have to impose mandatory carpooling.”
David Moretti, the acting president of MTA Bridges and Tunnels, said additional toll booths could be opened at crossings, with lanes set up for varying numbers of E-ZPass or cash customers, depending on demand.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority chief Elliot Sander said Wednesday that the agency would unveil a more detailed strike plan next week if it were still needed.
A spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management, which is coordinating the city’s response, only said that they were “working with transportation providers and surrounding jurisdictions on a contingency plan.”