New York, NY – New York State Assembly Chairman of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) today renewed calls for the President of the United States to declare a state of emergency at Penn Station, after another commuter train was derailed and caused massive delays on Thursday night. Assemblyman Dinowitz said that the aging signals and tracks at Penn Station pose a serious and significant threat to millions of commuters every day. On May 18 of this year, Dinowitz chaired a hearing with key officials from Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road and emphasized the impact that a chronic state of disrepair at Penn Station has had on local commuters. Dinowitz said that incidents such as last night's derailment of a New Jersey Transit train will continue to occur as long as the repairs to Penn Station are not complete, which Amtrak indicated during that hearing may not be this year.

"Amtrak, and by extension the United States Department of Transportation and President Trump, are responsible for maintaining a safe and productive Penn Station. The President must consider the impact this type of event has on the confidence of millions of local commuters every day and release federal funding to complete the necessary repairs without further delay," said Dinowitz. "We need significant federal investment in the modernization of Penn Station, on top of a modern train tunnel to cross the Hudson River in order to avoid a devastating economic impact on tens of millions of workers throughout the Northeastern United States. This amounts to billions of dollars in modern transit infrastructure, but the States of New Jersey and New York are financially unable to do it alone."

The resignation of USDOT from the Gateway Development Corporation earlier this week appears to indicate that the much needed tunnel will not receive federal attention, despite servicing a half million passengers each week on routes throughout the Northeastern United States. Assemblyman Dinowitz sent letter to President Trump asking him to declare Penn Station a state of emergency to avert an impending disaster.

"President Trump needs to recognize the Penn Station crisis for what it is – an emergency," said Dinowitz. Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a similar state of emergency for the New York City subways in response to the derailment of an A train earlier in the week.