Amtrak to Resume Sevice at New York's Penn Station in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy

Amtrak announced Thursday that they will resume service to New York's Penn Station beginning Friday Nov. 1. Amtrak's service has been suspended due to Hurricane Sandy since Monday.

"The rail carrier says both its Acela Express and slower Northeast Regional trains will begin rolling into Manhattan tomorrow morning, though Amtrak will be operating both services on a modified schedule," reports USA Today.

USA Today reported that as of Thursday night seats on weekend trains in New York had completely sold out except for two trains that would depart at 3 a.m. Saturday morning. USA Today reported that Amtrak warned that "services to and from New York City are subject to delay while repairs continue."

The storm flooded two train tunnels under the Hudson River and four under the East River. One Hudson River tunnel and three East River tunnels were reopened Thursday after the water had been removed, Boardman said.

The Washington Post reported that Sandy flooded two train tunnels that were running under the Hudson and four under the East River.

Amtrak's President Joseph Boardman said to the Washington Post that he "has also had discussions with Marc Laliberte, the president and chief executive of Via Rail Canada in Montreal, about borrowing trains for Amtrak's New York state service. If that can be arranged, it would free up other Amtrak trains that could be sent to hard-hit New Jersey to provide commuter service."

Amtrak advised that customers make reservations online and use electronic boarding passes rather than using self service kiosks that will no doubt be busy.

Things have slowly started to run in New York City since Sandy hit on Sunday. Select subway lines have started running as of Thursday Nov. 1 but many lines, especially, in hard hit lower Manhattan are still not running.

Lower Manhattan is still without power. The partial subway opening and bus lines that are now running are helping New Yorkers get around the city in the aftermath of Sandy.

DNAinfo.com reported that there 14 of the 23 subway lines are in operation but they include all stops south of 34^th street on the west side and 42^nd on the east.