“Amtrak says Metro-North has spent the last two months blocking its non-passenger trains — trains that do test runs, safety inspection trips and equipment moves — on the Hudson and New Haven Lines, choking off what Amtrak describes as essential work that keeps passenger-filled trains moving on time.”

““Their actions are violating agreements we’ve had in place for more than 35 years, causing escalating harm to Amtrak’s operations, undermining safety‑critical rail activity, disrupting service needed by millions of passengers, and putting the reliability of intercity rail service at risk,” an Amtrak spokesperson said Thursday.”

“The rollout of Amtrak’s new NextGen Acela fleet is also at stake because blocked test runs over Metro-North’s tracks threaten to delay the new high-speed trains from entering service even as older Acelas age out, Amtrak said.”

“Metro-North’s block of Amtrak’s non-passenger trains lands on the heels of Amtrak quietly blocking a Metro-North plan to extend service from Poughkeepsie to Albany after the MTA floated running its own Empire Service trains after Amtrak cut service amid construction.”

“Last fall, Amtrak’s president blamed the MTA’s “wounded pride” for a public blame game over years‑long delays to the $2.9 billion Penn Station Access project, after MTA officials pinned the holdup on Amtrak’s failure to provide work windows and staff.”