Pennsylvania Station (New York City)

Pennsylvania Station
New York, NY
Amtrak inter-city rail station
Long Island Rail Road commuter rail terminal
NJ Transit commuter rail terminal
Entrance on Seventh Avenue, with Madison Square Garden and Penn Plaza in the background
Location 7th & 8th Avenues, between 31st & 33rd Streets
New York, NY 10001
Coordinates 40°45′02″N 73°59′38″W / 40.750638°N 73.993899°W / 40.750638; -73.993899Coordinates: 40°45′02″N 73°59′38″W / 40.750638°N 73.993899°W / 40.750638; -73.993899
Owned by Amtrak
Line(s) Northeast Corridor
Empire Connection
Platforms 11 island platforms
Tracks 21
Connections
MTA New York City Subway:
"B" train ​"D" train ​"F" train ​"M" train​ "N" train ​"Q" train ​"R" train ​"W" train at 34th Street–Herald Square
"1" train ​"2" train ​"3" train at 34th Street–Penn Station (Seventh Avenue)
"A" train ​"C" train ​"E" train at 34th Street–Penn Station (Eighth Avenue)
Port Authority Trans-Hudson PATH: JSQ–33, HOB–33, JSQ–33 (via HOB) (at 33rd Street)
MTA New York City Bus: M7, M20, M34 SBS, M34A SBS, Q32
Academy Bus: SIM23, SIM24
Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach: service to airports via NYC Airporter
Eastern Shuttle
Greyhound Lines: BoltBus and NeOn
Megabus: M21, M22, M23, M24, M27
Vamoose Bus
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code Amtrak: NYP
IATA: ZYP
Fare zone Zone 1 (LIRR)
Zone 1 (NJ Transit)
History
Opened 1910
Rebuilt 1964
Electrified yes, all tracks
Traffic
Passengers (FY2017) 93,305 Average weekday[1][2] (NJT)
Passengers (FY2017) 10.398 million Annually[3] Decrease 0.37% (Amtrak)
Passengers 231,140 Average weekday[4] (LIRR)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
Acela Express
toward Boston South
Vermonter
toward St. Albans
Northeast Regional
toward Montreal
AdirondackTerminus
toward Chicago
Cardinal
(suspended)
toward Charlotte
Carolinian
toward New Orleans
Crescent
Empire Service
toward Rutland
Ethan Allen Express
toward Harrisburg
Keystone Service
toward Chicago
Lake Shore Limited
Maple Leaf
toward Pittsburgh
Pennsylvanian
toward Savannah
Palmetto
toward Miami
Silver Meteor
Silver Star
LIRR
TerminusCity Terminal Zone
toward Long Island
Port Washington Branch
NJ Transit Rail
toward Trenton
Northeast Corridor LineTerminus
toward Bay Head
North Jersey Coast Line
toward Hackettstown
Montclair-Boonton Line
Morristown Line
toward High Bridge
Raritan Valley Line
limited service
toward Gladstone
Gladstone Branch
limited service
Former services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station
Atlantic City Express ServiceTerminus
Amtrak
TerminusCape Codder
1986–1996
toward Hyannis
Hilltopper
1978–1979
toward Boston South
Montrealer
1972–1995
toward Montreal
toward Kansas City
National Limited
1971–1979
Terminus
toward Chicago
Three Rivers
1995–2005

Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City. Serving more than 350,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers a day, it is one of the busiest passenger transportation hubs in the Western Hemisphere. Penn Station is in Midtown Manhattan, close to Herald Square, the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and the Macy's department store. Entirely underground, it sits beneath Madison Square Garden, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and between 31st and 33rd Streets, with additional exits to nearby streets.

Penn Station has 21 tracks fed by seven tunnels (the two North River Tunnels, the four East River Tunnels, and the single Empire Connection tunnel). It is at the center of the Northeast Corridor, a passenger rail line that connects New York City with Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and intermediate points. Intercity trains are operated by Amtrak, which owns the station, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and New Jersey Transit. Connections are available within the complex to the New York City Subway, and buses. The old "Hilton Corridor" formerly provided indoor connection with the 34th Street-Herald Square subway station and 33rd Street PATH station.[5]

Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original tenant, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The current facility is the remodeled underground remnant of the original Pennsylvania Station, a more ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and completed in 1910. Considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style, its headhouse was torn down in 1963, galvanizing the modern historic preservation movement.[6] The rest of the station was rebuilt in the following six years.

Future plans for Penn Station include adding platforms at the station's south end to accommodate two proposed Gateway Project tunnels. Plans also call for shifting some trains to the adjacent Farley Post Office, which had been built along with the 1910 station. Moynihan Station, a project to add new concourses for the LIRR and Amtrak within the Farley Post Office building, is being built in phases.

History

Planning and construction (1901–1910)

Pennsylvania Station Excavation by George Bellows (ca. 1907–1908). Brooklyn Museum.

Until the early 20th century, the PRR's rail network terminated on the western side of the Hudson River (once known locally as the North River) at Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey. Manhattan-bound passengers boarded ferries to cross the Hudson River for the final stretch of their journey. The rival New York Central Railroad's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street.

An early proposal for a bridge was considered but rejected.[7][8] The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but this was infeasible for steam locomotive use.[9] The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century made a tunnel feasible. On December 12, 1901, PRR president Alexander Cassatt announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan south of 34th Street. The station would sit in Manhattan's Tenderloin district, a historical red-light district known for its corruption and prostitution.[10]

Beginning in June 1903, the two single-track North River Tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River. A second set of four single-track tunnels, the East River Tunnels, were bored from the east under the East River, linking the new station to Queens and the PRR-owned Long Island Rail Road. and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled. Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnels on March 18, 1908.

Original structure

A small portion of Penn Station was opened on September 8, 1910, in conjunction with the opening of the East River Tunnels. As a result, LIRR riders gained direct railroad service to Manhattan.[11] On November 27, 1910, Penn Station was fully opened to the public.[12]

Penn Station, interior, 1935–1938

During half a century of operation by the Pennsylvania Railroad (1910–1963), scores of intercity passenger trains arrived and departed daily to Chicago and St. Louis on “Pennsy” rails and beyond on connecting railroads to Miami and the west. Along with Long Island Rail Road trains, Penn Station saw trains of the New Haven and the Lehigh Valley Railroads. A side effect of the tunneling project was to open the city up to the suburbs, and within 10 years of opening, two-thirds of the daily passengers coming through Penn Station were commuters.[10] The station put the Pennsylvania Railroad at comparative advantage to its competitors offering direct service from Manhattan to the west and south. Other railroads began their routes at terminals in Weehawken, Hoboken, Pavonia and Communipaw which required passengers from New York City to use ferries or the interstate Hudson Tubes to traverse the Hudson River before boarding their trains. By 1945, at its peak, more than 100 million passengers a year traveled through Penn Station.[10]

By the late 1950s, intercity rail passenger volumes had declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age and the Interstate Highway System. A renovation around this time covered some of the grand columns with plastic and blocked off the spacious central hallway with a new ticket office. The Pennsylvania Railroad optioned the air rights of Penn Station in the 1950s. The option called for the demolition of the head house and train shed, to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex, while he tracks of the station would remain untouched.[13] Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden were announced in 1962. In exchange for the air rights to Penn Station, a new, smaller underground station would be built at no cost, and the Pennsylvania Railroad would receive a 25 percent stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex. Modern architects rushed to save the ornate building, but to no avail.[14] Demolition of the above-ground station house began in October 1963.[15] As most of the rail infrastructure was below street level, including the waiting room, concourses, and boarding platforms, rail service was maintained throughout demolition with only minor disruptions.[16]

The demolition of the head house was controversial and caused outrage internationally.[17][18] "One entered the city like a God," the architectural historian Vincent Scully famously wrote of the original station. "One scuttles in now like a rat."[19] The controversy over the demolition of such a well-known landmark, and its deplored replacement,[20] is often cited as a catalyst for the architectural preservation movement in the United States. New laws were passed to restrict such demolition. Within the decade, Grand Central Terminal was protected under the city's new landmarks preservation act, a protection upheld by the courts in 1978 after a challenge by Grand Central's owner, Penn Central.[21]

Current structure (1968–present)

Long Island Rail Road concourse
Amtrak concourse

The current Penn Station is completely underground, and sits below Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street, and Two Penn Plaza. The station has three underground levels: concourses on the upper two levels and train platforms on the lowest. The two levels of concourses, while original to the 1910 station, were extensively renovated during the construction of Madison Square Garden, and expanded in subsequent decades. The tracks and platforms are also largely original, except for some work connecting the station to the West Side Rail Yard and the Amtrak Empire Corridor serving Albany and Buffalo, New York.[22][23]

In the 1990s, the current Pennsylvania Station was renovated by Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and New Jersey Transit, to improve the appearance of the waiting and concession areas, sharpen the station information systems (audio and visual) and remove much of the grime. Recalling the erstwhile grandeur of the bygone Penn Station, an old four-sided clock from the original depot was installed at the 34th Street Long Island Rail Road entrance. The walkway from that entrance's escalator also has a mural depicting elements of the old Penn Station's architecture.

There is an abandoned underground passageway from Penn Station to the nearby 34th Street–Herald Square subway station, which was known as "Gimbels Passageway." After decades of safety concerns, it was closed in the 1990s.

After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, passenger flow through the Penn Station complex was curtailed. The taxiway under Madison Square Garden, which ran from 31st Street north to 33rd Street halfway between 7th and 8th Avenues, was closed off with concrete Jersey barriers. A covered walkway from the taxiway was constructed to guide arriving passengers to a new taxi-stand on 31st Street. In addition, the direct connection escalators from Penn Station to the lobby of Madison Square Garden were closed and later removed.

Despite the improvements, Penn Station continues to be criticized as a low-ceilinged "catacomb" lacking charm, especially when compared to New York's much larger and ornate Grand Central Terminal.[17] The New York Times, in a November 2007 editorial supporting development of an enlarged railroad terminal, said that "Amtrak's beleaguered customers...now scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character."[24] Times transit reporter Michael M. Grynbaum later called Penn Station "the ugly stepchild of the city’s two great rail terminals."[25]

Services

Diagram of intercity and commuter rail services around New York City, showing Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal

The station is served by 1,300 arrivals and departures per day, twice the number during the 1970s.[26] There are more than 600,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers who use the station on an average weekday,[27][28] or up to one thousand every ninety seconds.[29] It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States[30] and in North America.[31][32]

Intercity rail

Amtrak

Amtrak owns the station and uses it for the following services:

Despite its status as the busiest train station for Amtrak, Pennsylvania Station does not have adequate clearance for its Superliner railcars.

Amtrak normally uses tracks 1–16 alongside New Jersey Transit, as well as the LIRR for 13–16.

Commuter rail

Long Island Rail Road

The following Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) services terminate at Penn Station:

All branches connect at Jamaica station except the Port Washington Branch.

Normally, the LIRR uses tracks 17–21 exclusively and shares 13–16 with Amtrak and NJT. The LIRR uses Tracks 11-12 on rare occasions.

New Jersey Transit

The following NJ Transit Rail Operations (NJT) branches terminate at Penn Station:

NJT normally has the exclusive use of tracks 1–4, and shares tracks 5–16 with Amtrak and tracks 13–16 with the LIRR as well. The NJT uses track 17 on rare occasions.

Rapid transit

New York City Subway

Connections are available to the following New York City Subway stations:[33]

PATH

Connections are also available to the PATH system at Herald Square, one block east at Sixth Avenue. The JSQ-33, HOB-33, and JSQ-33 (via HOB) trains stop at 33rd Street station, under Sixth Avenue.

Bus and coach

NYC Airporter provides bus transportation to and from John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, and is authorized by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York City Department of Transportation.

New York City Bus

The following MTA Regional Bus Operations buses stop near Penn Station:[34]

Intercity coach

BoltBus

BoltBus is a discount bus company owned and operated under a 50/50 partnership between Greyhound and Peter Pan bus lines. They operate intercity bus service from two stops at Penn Station:

Penn Station Bus Stop #1 (West 33rd Street and 7th Avenue)

Penn Station Bus Stop #2 (West 34th Street and 8th Avenue)

  • Service to South Station (Gate #9), Boston, Massachusetts
  • Service to Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; 30th Street Station, 30th Street between Market & Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Vamoose Bus

Vamoose Bus is a private company that runs buses from a stop near Penn Station (West 30th Street and 7th Avenue) to Bethesda Station, Bethesda, Maryland; Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia; Lorton VRE Station, Lorton, Virginia.[35]

Tripper Bus

Tripper Bus is a private company that runs buses from a stop near Penn Station (31st Street between 8th & 9th Avenue) to Bethesda Station, Bethesda, Maryland; and Rosslyn Station, Arlington, Virginia.

Go Buses

Go Buses is a private company that runs buses from a stop near Penn Station (31st Street between 8th & 9th Avenue) to Riverside Station, Newton, Massachusetts, and Alewife Station, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Airline ticketing

Penn Station includes a United Airlines ticketing office, located at the ticket lobby.[36] This was previously a Continental Airlines ticketing office.[37]

Proposed Metro-North service

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has proposed to bring Metro-North Railroad commuter trains to Penn Station as part of its Penn Station Access project. The first phase of the project would bring New Haven Line trains to Penn Station via Amtrak's Hell Gate Bridge and the East River Tunnels. The second phase would bring Hudson Line service to the station via the Empire Connection.[38]

Station layout

West End Concourse

Penn Station does not have a unified design or floor plan but rather is divided into separate Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit concourses with each concourse maintained and styled differently by its respective operator.[39] Amtrak and NJ Transit concourses are located on the first level below the street-level while the Long Island Rail Road concourse is two levels below street-level. The NJ Transit concourse near Seventh Avenue is the newest and opened in 2002 out of existing retail and Amtrak office space.[40][41] A new entrance to this concourse from West 31st Street opened in September 2009.[42] Previously, NJ Transit shared space with the Amtrak concourse. The main LIRR concourse runs below West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Significant renovations were made to this concourse over a three-year period ending in 1994, including the addition of a new entry pavilion on 34th Street.[43] The LIRR's West End Concourse, west of Eighth Avenue, opened in 1986.[44] The station is so complex that in December 2017, Amtrak and Zyter released a mobile app called FindYourWay to help commuters navigate around Penn Station, though Zyter also plans to roll out the app at other large Amtrak stations.[45]

In normal operations, tracks 1–12 are used by both Amtrak and NJ Transit trains and the LIRR has the exclusive use of tracks 17–21 on the north side of the station. All three railroads share tracks 13–16.

Tracks and surrounding infrastructure

Penn Station track map
North River Tunnels to Secaucus
to West Side Yard
Empire Connection to Yonkers
LD1
LD3
1A
3A
5A
2X
4X
6X
LD2
LD4
1E
3E
5E
2A
2
1X
3X
5X
2E
4E
1C
4C
6C
8C
10C
2C
5C
7C
9C
Mail platform
1D
4D
6D
7E
3D
5D
A Interlocking
F
M
I
G
U
KN Interlocking
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
(Platform numbers)
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
20
(Track numbers)
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
19
21
(Track numbers)
C Interlocking
JO Interlocking
1
2
3
4
East River Tunnels
Legend
 Passenger service tracks
 Yard/storage tracks
 Note: Interlocking towers A, KN, C, and JO have been deactivated.
Source:[47]

Normally, Amtrak and NJT share tracks 1–12, the LIRR uses tracks 17–21 exclusively, and all three railroads share tracks 13–16.[48][49] Tracks 1–4 end at bumper blocks at the eastern end of the platform and have no access to the East River Tunnels. From the east, the East River Tunnels' lines 1 and 2 (the more southerly tubes) can only access tracks 5–17 and are used by most Amtrak and NJ Transit trains, while the East River Tunnels' lines 3 and 4 (the more northerly tubes) can only access tracks 14–21 and are mostly used by LIRR. From the west, the North River Tunnels can access tracks 1–19, while the Empire Connection can only access tracks 1–9 and the LIRR's West Side Yard can only access tracks 10–21.[47]

All station tracks are powered by 12 kV overhead wire. Tracks 5–21 also have 750 V DC third rail.[50][51] Due to the lack of proper ventilation in the tunnels and station, only electric locomotives and dual-mode locomotives are scheduled to enter Penn Station.[52] Diesel-only NJT trains terminate at Hoboken Terminal or Newark Penn Station, and diesel-only LIRR trains terminate at or prior to Long Island City.

Trains on track 18 open their doors only on the north side (platform 10).[49]

2017–2018 service disruptions and track improvements

Since the early 2010s, Amtrak had planned to fix the deteriorating rails and infrastructure around Penn Station, but due to the prioritization of other projects, applied only minimal fixes.[53] In early 2017, this culminated in numerous power outages, derailments, and delays due to track maintenance delays. There were frequent service disruptions to train schedules caused by the deterioration of its tracks and their supporting infrastructure, as well as in those of the East River and North River tunnels that respectively connect the station to Long Island and New Jersey.[54]

A string of early 2017 service disruptions started on March 23, 2017, when an Acela train derailed, causing delays for the day.[55] On April 3, a NJ Transit train derailed at a known problem site, where repairs had been deferred.[54] This caused four days of reduced service along the Northeast Corridor for both Amtrak and NJ Transit, because the incident damaged the switch that connects Tracks 1–8 to the North River tunnels.[56] This closure caused a cascading failure, delaying Amtrak and Long Island Railroad trains on the unaffected tracks.[55][57] Had the Gateway Program been built by then, the disruptions would have been lessened.[57]

Track switches west of the station

On April 14, a New Jersey Transit train became stuck in the North River tunnels, causing the station to grow crowded with waiting passengers. After an Amtrak police officer used a Taser on a man who was acting disruptively, rumors of gunshots sparked a stampede that injured 16 people.[58][59] Following the stampede, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer called on Amtrak to centralize law enforcement response.[60]

As a result of these incidents, the Long Island Rail Road had proposed taking over Penn Station from Amtrak to improve maintenance,[61] and New Jersey has suggested withholding state payments to Amtrak.[55] Amtrak has discussed accelerating major maintenance work, even at the cost of further disruptions, to more quickly stabilize infrastructure and decrease more future incidents that could potentially cause even greater disruption.[55] On April 28, Amtrak announced that it would perform some track maintenance during the summer[60] over a period of one and a half months.[62] Five tracks were closed for repairs as part of the reconstruction work, severely reducing track capacity in a situation media outlets deemed "the summer of hell".[63][64] Many affected NJ Transit passengers were diverted to take the PATH instead.[65] Some Amtrak trains from the Empire Corridor were routed to Grand Central instead of Penn Station.[66] Regular service resumed on September 5, 2017.[67][68]

Amtrak made further improvements to Penn Station's trackage in summer 2018. As a result, some Empire Corridor trains were rerouted again to Grand Central.[69] The Lake Shore Limited and Cardinal to Chicago were truncated or rerouted because of this work.[70]

Platform access

Although most Amtrak passengers board via the escalators in the main Amtrak boarding area, multiple entrances exist for each platform.[71]

ClubAcela lounge

ClubAcela is a private lounge located on the Amtrak concourse (8th Avenue side of the station). Prior to December 2000 it was known as the Metropolitan Lounge. Guests are provided with comfortable seating, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, newspapers, television sets and a conference room. Access to ClubAcela is restricted to the following passenger types:[72]

  • Amtrak Guest Rewards members with a valid Select Plus or Select Executive member card.
  • Amtrak passengers with a same-day ticket (departing) or ticket receipt (arriving) in First class or sleeping car accommodations.
  • ClubAcela Single-Day Pass holders. Same day business class passengers may purchase these for $25.
  • United Airlines United Club Members with a valid card or passengers with a same-day travel ticket on United Polaris First Class or United Polaris.
  • Private rail car owners/lessees. The PNR number must be given to a Club representative upon entry.

Enclosed waiting area

Amtrak also offers an enclosed waiting area for ticketed passengers with seats, outlets and WiFi.[73]

 33rd St to 34th St subway cross-section
11th Av 10th & 9th Avs
are skipped		 8th Av Madison Square
Garden		 7th Av Storefronts 6th Av &
Broadway		 5th & Madison Avs
are skipped		 Park Av
mezzanine A / C / E concourse 1 / 2 / 3 Former Gimbel's
passageway		 mezz PATH 6 / <6>
mezzanine mezzanine concourse mezzanine N / Q / R / W
7 / <7> Penn Station B / D / F / M

Planning and redevelopment

Gateway Project

The Gateway Project is a proposed high-speed rail corridor to alleviate the bottleneck along the Northeast Corridor at the North River Tunnels, which runs under the Hudson River. If constructed, the project would add 25 cross-Hudson train slots during rush hours, convert parts of the James Farley Post Office into a rail station, and add a 7-track, 4-platform terminal annex to Penn Station.[74] Some previously planned improvements already underway have also been incorporated into the Gateway plan.[74][75]

The Gateway Project was unveiled in 2011, one year after the cancellation of the somewhat similar Access to the Region's Core (ARC) project, and was originally projected to cost $14.5 billion and take 14 years to build.[75] Construction of a "tunnel box" that would preserve the right-of-way on Manhattan's West Side began in September 2013, using $185 million in recovery and resilience funding awarded after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.[76] In 2015, Amtrak said that damage done to the existing trans-Hudson tunnels by Hurricane Sandy had made their replacement urgent.[77][78] That year, Amtrak reported that environmental and design work was underway, estimated the project's total cost at $20 billion, and said construction would start in 2019 or 2020 and last four to five years.[79] A draft environmental impact statement was released in July 2017.[80][81]

Funding for the Gateway Project had been unclear for several years due to a lack of funding commitments from New Jersey officials and the federal government. In March 2018, up to $541 million for the project was provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.[82][83]

Main site plans

Crowded conditions on LIRR concourse

Resurgence of train ridership in the 21st century has pushed the current Pennsylvania Station structure to capacity, leading to several proposals to renovate or rebuild the station.

In May 2013, four architecture firms—SHoP Architects, SOM, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, and Diller Scofidio + Renfro—submitted proposals for a new Penn Station. SHoP Architects recommended moving Madison Square Garden to the Morgan Postal Facility a few blocks southwest, as well as removing 2 Penn Plaza and redeveloping other towers, and an extension of the High Line to Penn Station.[84] Meanwhile, SOM proposed moving Madison Square Garden to the area just south of the James Farley Post Office, and redeveloping the area above Penn Station as a mixed-use development with commercial, residential, and recreational space.[84] H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture wanted to move the arena to a new pier west of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, four blocks west of the current station/arena. Then, according to H3's plan, four skyscrapers at each of the four corners of the new Penn Station superblock, with a roof garden on top of the station; the Farley Post Office would become an education center.[84] Finally, Diller Scofidio + Renfro proposed a mixed-use development on the site, with spas, theaters, a cascading park, a pool, and restaurants; Madison Square Garden would be moved two blocks west, next to the post office. DS+F also proposed high-tech features in the station, such as train arrival and departure boards on the floor, and applications that can help waiting passengers use their time until they board their trains.[84] Madison Square Garden rejected the allegations that it would be relocated, and called the plans "pie-in-the-sky".[84]

In 2013, the Regional Plan Association and Municipal Art Society formed the Alliance for a New Penn Station. Citing overcrowding and the limited capacity of the current station under Madison Square Garden, the Alliance began to advocate for limiting the extension of Madison Square Garden's operating permit to 10 years.

In June 2013, the New York City Council Committee on Land Use voted unanimously to give the Garden a ten-year permit, at the end of which period the owners will either have to relocate, or go back through the permission process.[85] On July 24, 2013, the New York City Council voted to give the Garden a ten-year operating permit by a vote of 47 to 1. "This is the first step in finding a new home for Madison Square Garden and building a new Penn Station that is as great as New York and suitable for the 21st century," said City Council speaker Christine Quinn. "This is an opportunity to reimagine and redevelop Penn Station as a world-class transportation destination."[86]

In October 2014, the Morgan facility was selected as the ideal area to which to move Madison Square Garden, following the 2014 MAS Summit in New York City. More plans for the station were discussed.[87][88]

In January 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that requests for proposals would be solicited for the redevelopment of the station, which would be a public private partnership. Investors would be granted commercial rights to the station in exchange for paying building costs.[89][90]

Moynihan Station

Proposed designs throughout the development process, from 1999 (left), 2005 (middle), and 2007 (right)

In the early 1990s, U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan began to champion a plan to rebuild a replica of the historic Penn Station, in which he had shined shoes during the Great Depression.[91] He proposed building it in the Farley Post Office building, which occupies the block across Eighth Avenue from the current Penn Station and was designed by McKim, Mead & White, the same architectural firm that designed the original station.[92] In 1999 Senator Charles Schumer sponsored and passed legislation formally naming the yet-to-be-constructed facility "Daniel Patrick Moynihan Station" in his honor.[93]

Initial design proposals were laid out by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in 2001.[94] Designs saw several iterations by multiple architectural firms, and Amtrak withdrew from the plan until 2012.[95][96][97][98][99] Support also grew for "Plan B," an expansion of the project's scope, under which Madison Square Garden would have been moved to the west flank of the Farley Building, allowing Vornado Realty to construct an office complex on the current Garden site.[100] By 2009, the Garden's owner Cablevision had decided not to move Madison Square Garden, but to renovate its current location instead,[101] and Amtrak had returned as a potential tenant.[102]

In 2010, the fully designed elements of the plan were broken off into a $267 million Phase 1. Funded by $83.4 million of federal stimulus money that became available in February, plus other funds, the phase adds two entrances to the existing Penn Station platforms through the Farley Building on Eighth Avenue.[103] Ground was broken on October 18, 2010,[104][105][106] and the extended West End Concourse opened in the eastern part of the former post office in June 2017.[107]

Phase 2 will consist of the new train hall in the fully renovated Farley Building. At the time it was first proposed, it was expected to cost up to $1.5 billion.[108] A proposed name for a station that integrates the existing Penn and the post office building is Empire Station.[89] In September 2016, Governor Andrew Cuomo outlined the details of a proposal that would speed up the construction of Phase 2 of the renovated Moynihan Station. The new hall would be 1 acre (0.40 ha) and be underneath a large glass skylight.[109] The Farley Post Office would be divided so that there would be some space for a shared Amtrak/LIRR train hall and a retail area, as well as space for the post office. Phase 2, which is now expected to cost $1.6 billion, is being built by Skanska AB, and the retail space would be developed by Related Companies and Vornado Realty; all three companies are supposed to sign a contract by 2017.[109]

In August 2017, ground was broken on the now-$1.6 billion project.[110] Although the LIRR and Amtrak will move to the new train hall, NJ Transit will keep using its current platforms because there is no space to extend the NJ Transit platforms westward.[111] If the Gateway Project is built, NJ Transit would instead move to the southern annex that would be built as part of the project.[74] As part of Moynihan Phase 2, a new direct entrance from 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue to the LIRR concourse and subway platforms would be built. 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues would be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian plaza. The LIRR concourse would be nearly doubled in width, from 30 to 57 feet (9.1 to 17.4 m), and the ceilings would be raised to a minimum height of 18 feet (5.5 m) The expected completion date for these improvements is 2022. In total, seven new entrances to Penn Station would be built as part of the Moynihan Hall project.[112][113]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "NJ TRANSIT FACTS AT A GLANCE" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  2. ↑ "How Many Riders Use NJ Transit's Hoboken Train Station?". Hoboken Patch. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  3. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2017, State of New York" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2008.
  4. ↑ Average weekday, 2010 LIRR Annual Ridership and Marketing Report
  5. ↑ "Reopen the Forgotten Hilton Passageway". January 7, 2014.
  6. ↑ Gray, Christopher (May 20, 2001). "Streetscapes/'The Destruction of Penn Station'; A 1960's Protest That Tried to Save a Piece of the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  7. ↑ Donovan, Frank P. Jr. (1949). Railroads of America. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing.
  8. ↑
    • Keys, C. M. (July 1910). "Cassatt and His Vision: Half a Billion Dollars Spent in Ten Years to Improve a Single Railroad – The End of a Forty-Year Effort to Cross the Hudson". The World's Work: A History of Our Time. XX: 13187–13204. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  9. ↑ Klein, Aaron E (January 1988). History of the New York Central. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books. p. 128. ISBN 0-517-46085-8.
  10. 1 2 3 The Rise and Fall of Penn Station. American Masters. Directed and written by Randall MacLowery. PBS. February 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ "DAY LONG THRONG INSPECTS NEW TUBE; 35,000 Persons Were Carried on the First Day of Pennsylvania's Tunnel Service. ACCIDENT MARRED OPENING Morning Trains Delayed Two Hours by Broken Third Rail -- Some Complaints Over Extra Fare". The New York Times. September 9, 1910. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ "PENNSYLVANIA OPENS ITS GREAT STATION; First Regular Train Sent Through the Hudson River Tunnel at Midnight". The New York Times. 1910-11-27. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-23.
  13. ↑ The Railway and Engineering Review article says at their highest the station tracks were nine feet below sea level.
  14. ↑ Gray, Christopher (May 20, 2001). "'The Destruction of Penn Station'; A 1960's Protest That Tried to Save a Piece of the Past". The New York Times. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  15. ↑ Tolchin, Martin (October 29, 1963). "Demolition Starts At Penn Station; Architects Picket; Penn Station Demolition Begun; 6 Architects Call Act a 'Shame'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2018.
  16. ↑ "New York – Penn Station, NY (NYP)", Great American Stations Project. 2013 Amtrak. Retrieved October 5, 2013
  17. 1 2 Rasmussen, Frederick N. (April 21, 2007). "From the Gilded Age, a monument to transit". The Baltimore Sun.
  18. ↑ "Farewell to Penn Station". The New York Times. October 30, 1963. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  19. ↑ Herbert Muschamp, "Architecture View; In This Dream Station Future and Past Collide," New York Times, June 20, 1993.
  20. ↑ Blair Kamin (January 23, 2005). "New Randolph station works within its limits". The Chicago Tribune.
  21. ↑ Jon Weinstein (January 29, 2013). "Grand Central Terminal At 100: Legal Battle Nearly Led To Station's Demolition". NY1. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013.
  22. ↑ Doherty, Matthew (November 7, 2004). "Far West Side Story". The New York Times. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Travel Advisory; Grand Central Trains Rerouted To Penn Station". The New York Times. April 7, 1991. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
  24. ↑ "A Station Worthy of New York". The New York Times. November 2, 2007. Retrieved November 26, 2007.
  25. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael M. (October 18, 2010). "The Joys and Woes of Penn Station at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
  26. ↑ Leonard, Devin (January 10, 2018). "The Most Awful Transit Center in America Could Get Unimaginably Worse". Bloomberg Business Week. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  27. ↑ Randolph, Eleanor (March 28, 2013). "Transplanting Madison Square Garden". Taking Note. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  28. ↑ Robert Sciarrino (December 26, 2013). "How to squeeze 1,200 trains a day into America's busiest transit hub". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved January 8, 2016. ...a transit hub that handles 650,000 people a day — twice as busy as America’s most-used airport in Atlanta and busier than Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports combined.
  29. ↑ Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. Encyclopedia of New York City, pp. 498 and 891.
  30. ↑ Empire State Development. "About Moynihan Station.". Retrieved March 7, 2011.
  31. ↑ Betts, Mary Beth (1995). "Pennsylvania Station". In Kenneth T. Jackson. The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven, CT & London & New York: Yale University Press & The New-York Historical Society. pp. 890–891.
  32. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael M. (October 18, 2010). "The Joys and Woes of Penn Station at 100". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  33. ↑ "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Manhattan Bus Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  35. ↑ "Our Bus Stops — Vamoose Bus". Retrieved January 9, 2015. Dropoff Locations: Penn Station, 7th Ave. Corner of W 30th Street
  36. ↑ "U.S. and Canada Reservations Contact Information". United Airlines. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  37. ↑ "U.S. & Canada Reservations Contact Information". Continental Airlines. Archived from the original on April 12, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  38. ↑ "Penn Station Access Study". Mta.info. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  39. ↑ "Station Directory - Penn Station, NY" (PDF). NJ Transit. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  40. ↑ "Commissioner Fox Unveils New 7th Avenue Concourse at Penn Station N.Y." (Press release). NJ Transit. September 18, 2002. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  41. ↑ Lautenberg, Saundra and Baumann, Lynne M. (2000). "New Jersey Transit's East End Concourse."
  42. ↑ Fahim, Kareem (November 6, 2006). "New Penn Station Entrance Is Planned by N.J. Transit". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  43. ↑ Schaer, Sidney C. (October 23, 1994). "As LIRR Renovation Ends, Who's Laughing Now?". Newsday.
  44. ↑ Washington, Ruby (December 12, 1986). "New Concourse Opens at Pennsylvania Station". The New York Times. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  45. ↑ McGeehan, Patrick (2017-12-13). "Lost in Penn Station? Amtrak Has an App to Guide You". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  46. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Penn Station", station layout, mta.info
  47. 1 2 "Penn Station Track System". Amtrak. May 2017. Archived from the original on July 15, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  48. ↑ Nowakowski, Patrick (April 24, 2017). Metro-North/LIRR Committee Meeting (Board meeting). Event occurs at 15:45. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  49. 1 2 "Long Island Rail Road Timetable No. 4" (PDF). May 14, 2012. p. I-81. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  50. ↑ "Amtrak Northeast Corridor Employee Timetable No. 6" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board Docket Management System. February 22, 2016. p. 72. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  51. ↑ "Long Island Rail Road Timetable No. 4" (PDF). May 14, 2012. p. I-59. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Amtrak Northeast Corridor Employee Timetable No. 6" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board Docket Management System. February 22, 2016. p. 209. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  53. ↑ LaForgia, Michael (2017-10-09). "Before Derailments at Penn Station, Competing Priorities Led to Disrepair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  54. 1 2 Fitzsimmons, Emma G.; Corasaniti, Nick (April 6, 2017). "Amtrak Knew of Flaw That Caused Penn Station Derailment". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  55. 1 2 3 4 Fitzsimmons, Emma G.; Mcgeehan, Patrick (April 25, 2017). "Amtrak Said to Weigh Extended Track Closings for Penn Station Repairs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  56. ↑ Rubinstein, Dana (May 5, 2014). "Clock ticking on Hudson crossings, Amtrak warns". Capital. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  57. 1 2 "Rail officials say derailment disruptions could last days". AP News. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  58. ↑ "Penn Station stampede: 16 injured in chaos amid false reports of gun shots". Fox News. April 15, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  59. ↑ "Schumer: Boost communication after Penn Station stampede". New York's PIX11 / WPIX-TV. April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  60. 1 2 Fitzsimmons, Emma G.; Mcgeehan, Patrick (April 27, 2017). "Amtrak Plans to Close Several Penn Station Tracks for Major Repairs". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  61. ↑ "LIRR mulls suing Amtrak over Penn Station derailments". News 12 Long Island. Archived from the original on April 29, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  62. ↑ Mcgeehan, Patrick (May 2, 2017). "Amtrak's Plan for Penn Station Repairs Calls for 44 Days of Closed Tracks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  63. ↑ Mcgeehan, Patrick (September 1, 2017). "Summer Was Not So Hellish for Commuters at Penn Station". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  64. ↑ Saul, Emily (July 9, 2017). "'Summer of Hell' at Penn Station kicks off this week". New York Post. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  65. ↑ Mcgeehan, Patrick (August 3, 2017). "This Summer, PATH Is on the Big Stage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  66. ↑ "6 Amtrak trains to use Grand Central Terminal this summer". lohud.com. June 12, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  67. ↑ Wolfe, Jonathan (September 5, 2017). "New York Today: 'Summer of Hell' Comes to an End". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  68. ↑ "Full service resumes at Penn Station after 8 weeks of repair work". ABC7 New York. September 5, 2017. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  69. ↑ "Amtrak Announces Summer Infrastructure Renewal Work - Amtrak Media". Amtrak Media. 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  70. ↑ "New York-Chicago Direct Train Shuts Down for First Time in Over a Century". The New York Times. 2018-06-08. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
  71. ↑ "How to always get a seat at NYC Penn Station on Amtrak and NJ Transit".
  72. ↑ Amtrak ClubAcela access eligibility and rules. Retrieved 11 April 22:45 GMT
  73. ↑ "Amtrak — Stations — New York, NY — Penn Station (NYP)".
  74. 1 2 3 "Gateway Project" (PDF). Amtrak. February 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  75. 1 2 McGeehan, Patrick (February 7, 2011). "With One Plan for a Hudson Tunnel Dead, Senators Offer Another Option". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
  76. ↑ "West Side Construction Project May Bring New Rail Tunnel Pathways To …". NY1.com. November 6, 2013. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  77. ↑ Rouse, Karen (December 6, 2012). "Amtrak asks Congress for emergency funding for flood protection". The Record. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  78. ↑ Goldmark, Alex (December 13, 2012). "Amtrak asks for subsidies in wake of Hurricane Sandy". Transportation Nation. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
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  80. ↑ Bazeley, Alex (2017-07-06). "The Hudson Tunnel Project is expected to cost $12.9 billion". am New York. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  81. ↑ News, ABC (July 6, 2017). "Price for New York-New Jersey rail tunnel rises to $12.9B". ABC News. Archived from the original on July 7, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  82. ↑ "New York-New Jersey Rail Project Gets Some Money in Congress Deal". Bloomberg.com. 2018-03-21. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  83. ↑ Guse, Clayton (March 27, 2018). "A pair of crucial new Hudson River tunnels just took a major step forward". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
  84. 1 2 3 4 5 Hana R. Alberts (May 29, 2013). "Four Plans For A New Penn Station Without MSG, Revealed!". Curbed. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  85. ↑ Randolph, Eleanor (June 2013). "Bit by Bit, Evicting Madison Square Garden". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  86. ↑ Bagli, Charles (July 24, 2013). "Madison Square Garden Is Told to Move". The New York Times. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
  87. ↑ Hana R. Alberts (October 23, 2014). "Moving the Garden Would Pave the Way for a New Penn Station". Curbed. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  88. ↑ "MSG & the Future of West Midtown". Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  89. 1 2 Higgs, Larry (January 6, 2016). "Gov. Cuomo unveils grand plan to rebuild N.Y. Penn Station". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  90. ↑ "6th Proposal of Governor Cuomo's 2016 Agenda: Transform Penn Station and Farley Post Office Building Into a World-Class Transportation Hub". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  91. ↑ Friends of Moynihan Station Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.. Moynihanstation.org (July 1, 2006). Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  92. ↑ Laura Kusisto; Eliot Brown (March 2, 2014). "New York State Pushes for Penn Station Plan". The Wall Street Journal.
  93. ↑ S.1077 – A bill to dedicate the new Amtrak station in New York, New York, to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Congress.gov (May 19, 1999). Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  94. ↑ Moynihan Station Redevelopment 2001 Design | SOM | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Archived October 20, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.. SOM. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  95. ↑ Dunlap, David W. (October 26, 2006). "With Each Redesign, a Sparer Penn Station Emerges". The New York Times.
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  97. ↑ Inside the Retro-Futuristic Moynihan Station: Newest Plans Are a Throwback to the Old Post Office. Observer (July 10, 2012). Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  98. ↑ "Moynihan Station Development Corporation and NJ Transit Agree to Partner in Moynihan Station" (Press release). Empire State Development Corporation. November 21, 2005. Archived from the original on December 26, 2009. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  99. ↑ Magnet, Alec (November 22, 2005). "New Jersey Transit To Be Anchor Rail Tenant of Proposed Station". New York Sun. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
  100. ↑ Corley, Colleen (February 15, 2006). "Online High Expectations for Madison Square Garden's Rumored $750M Move". Commercial Property News. Retrieved January 16, 2010.
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  102. ↑ Friends of Moynihan Station Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.. Moynihanstation.org (August 30, 2005). Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  103. ↑ Michaelson, Juliette (February 16, 2010). "Moynihan Station Awarded Federal Grant" (PDF). Friends of Moynihan Station. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2010. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
  104. ↑ "New York Penn Station expansion to finally see light of day". Trains. October 18, 2010. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  105. ↑ "Work to begin on massive Penn Station expansion". Long Island Business News. Associated Press. May 9, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
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  109. 1 2 Bagli, Charles V. (September 27, 2016). "Cuomo's Vision for Revamped Penn Station: New Home for Amtrak and L.I.R.R." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  110. ↑ Nasa, Rahima; Blain, Glenn (August 17, 2017). "Cuomo touts $1.6B train hall project next to Penn Station". NY Daily News. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  111. ↑ Guse, Clayton (June 20, 2017). "Penn Station is officially getting a massive expansion". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
  112. ↑ "news - Governor Cuomo Announces New Main Entrance to Penn Station and Expansion of LIRR Concourse". MTA. September 6, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
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Bibliography

  • Diehl, Lorraine B. (1985). The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station. Lexington, MA: Stephen Greene Press. ISBN 0-8289-0603-3.
  • Johnston, Bob (January 2010). "Penn Station: How do they do it?". Trains. 70 (1): 22–29. Includes track diagram.
Google Maps Street View
Amtrak concourse
Seventh Avenue and 32nd Street entrance
Eighth Avenue and 31st Street entrance
Eighth Avenue and 33rd Street entrance
Tracks 5/6 & 7/8 Platforms
Tracks 9 & 10 Platform
Tracks 11 & 12 Platform
Tracks 13 & 14 Platform
Tracks 15 & 16 Platform
Tracks 17/18/19 Platforms
West End Concourse
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