Latest news with #Eas
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amtrak blasts Hochul and MTA for spinning blame on tunnel closures that could lead to delays
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways Amtrak's top boss blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul for failing to shoulder her portion of the blame for tunnel closures that could lead to train delays starting next week. In a sharply worded letter to Hochul, Amtrak president Roger Harris said Hochul's last-minute objections to Amtrak's tunnel shutdown plan were 'surprising' because MTA approved Amtrak's service plans for the $1.6 billion East River Tunnel rehabilitation months ago. Harris also said MTA's mismanagement of another project delayed the 'critical' East River Tunnel repairs by six months — and he accused the state of pushing 'misinformation' that undermines public trust. 'This underscores the importance of aligned public messaging,' Harris wrote to the governor. 'The project's engineering, safety and operational requirements have been transparent from the start and fully vetted by your agencies, MTA and New York State Department of Transportation.' Amtrak president Roger Harris said MTA has been a part of the controversial plan to close parts of the East River tunnels for repair work all along. REUTERS Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote a letter Monday calling on Amtrak to change its repair plans — even though the NYDOT had worked closely on the project plans. Robert Miller Harris warned that spinning the story could 'erode confidence' in all the agencies trying to fix the city's crumbling rails. Starting May 9, Amtrak will close for repair one of the four East River tunnels that connect Penn Station to Queens — forcing the MTA, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains to operate on fewer tracks while the aging infrastructure, which was battered by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, undergoes major repairs. There will be only 10 round trips from Penn Station to Albany instead of the usual 12 because of the closure. Workers will alternate which tunnel they work on during the three-year project. Passengers were outraged after MTA heads warned the tunnel closures could cause delays for all trains running through the remaining three East River tunnels. In response to Harris' letter, MTA issued a statement from Long Island Rail Road president Rob Free. 'If they proceed as intended, while finger-pointing about unrelated issues as a distraction, Long Islanders' reliance on record on-time and reliable trains will be jeopardized — which is unacceptable,' Free said. Laura Mason, executive vice president at Amtrak, said Amtrak engineers worked with the MTA 'in a lot of detail' on the East River tunnel plans. 'This collaboration goes back years,' she told The Post Friday. There will be only 10 round trips from Penn Station to Albany instead of the usual 12 during the three-year project. AP The White House put Amtrak in charge of the Penn Station redo. Two weeks later, the MTA board passed a resolution condemning Amtrak's construction work on the East River tunnel project. Mason said Amtrak was already working with MTA to mitigate delays by adding more standby crews to rescue trains if something goes wrong and by changing train schedules. 'I don't want to opine on their motives, but I do think the timing is questionable,' Mason said. The engineer is working on the Penn Station revamp too — that project was recently yanked from the MTA and handed to Amtrak instead by the Trump administration. 'It is always challenging in an environment that has a lot of intense politics, as well as a high degree of ridership that people do get nervous ahead of these outages,' Mason said. A spokesperson for Hochul said Amtrak has failed to deliver on promises to mitigate service disruptions and that's why the governor is concerned.
Asia Times
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
China war games nudge New Zealand closer to AUKUS
The appearance of three Chinese naval vessels firing live rounds in the Tasman Sea has caused understandable alarm in New Zealand and Australia. But this has more to do with the geopolitical context than the actual event. In fact, the Chinese navy is allowed to conduct exercises in the Tasman and has wide freedoms on the high seas in general. So far, China appears to be acting in accordance with both the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea. While New Zealand would have preferred more notice of the Chinese navy's intentions, there was no obligation to provide this. Nor is what is occurring in the Tasman similar to the more aggressive saber-rattling the Chinese military has displayed around the South China Sea, most recently involving both the Australian and Philippine navies. And in September last year, just a few days after Australian and New Zealand vessels sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental missile into the South Pacific. For China, of course, Taiwan and parts of the South China Sea are highly disputed territory. The Tasman Sea is not. But what is disputed is China's role and influence in the Pacific – and this, rather than a minor naval exercise, is what is causing headaches in Canberra and Wellington. The surprise agreement signed by the Cook Islands and China under a fortnight ago, aimed at 'deepening blue economy cooperation', is the immediate context for that concern. The deal avoids controversial areas such as security and policing. But it moves Chinese influence into infrastructure support for wharves, shipbuilding and repair, and ocean transportation. What really challenges New Zealand's foreign policy is how this opens the South Pacific up to even greater Chinese influence and activity. Foreign Minister Winston Peters has signaled it is time to reset the relationship with the Cooks. For its part, China has asserted that its relationship with the Cook Islands 'is not directed against any third party and should not be subject to or disrupted by any third party.' In other words, China has told New Zealand to butt out of a major development in the historically close diplomatic and political relationship with its Pacific neighbor. All of this is happening within a rapidly shifting geopolitical sphere. US President Donald Trump is unilaterally attempting to upend the old US-led world order, and other major powers such as Russia and China are adapting. New Zealand's relations with China were already difficult. The Security Intelligence Service and Government Communications Security Bureau have both identified state-sponsored Chinese interference in domestic affairs, breaches of the parliamentary network and other malicious cyber activity. The question now is whether China has scored an own goal with its recent actions. While it might prefer New Zealand to operate a more independent foreign policy – balancing its relations with East and West – the opposite may now be more likely. In times of international stress and uncertainty, New Zealand has always tended to move towards deepening relationships with traditional allies. Whether it is the fear of Russian invasion in the 19th century, or Japanese invasion in the 20th century – and whether or not those threats are real or imagined – New Zealand reverts to form. It has been this way for nearly 150 years and is likely to occur again. New Zealand is already grappling with how to respond to the Trump administration's redrawn global system and will be looking for ways to deepen the friendship. At the same time, the government now seems committed to joining a new arms race and increasing defense spending as a proportion of GDP. And the supposed benefits of joining the second tier of the AUKUS security pact may now become that much easier to sell politically. Alexander Gillespie is professor of law, University of Waikato This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
