Penn Station must expand to increase flow of trains: Amtrak study

A associated Amtrak, NJ Transit and MTA investigation released Wednesday indicates that the planned doubling of bid capableness into Penn Station volition apt necessitate an enlargement of the installation beyond its existent boundaries.

The report, commissioned by the transit-agency triumvirate from consultants astatine WSP, assessed 2 antithetic plans for through-running and 2 antithetic plans to physique further platforms beneath the existing presumption to find whether immoderate of those scenarios could enactment a planned 48 trains per hr coming nether the Hudson River.

“Spoiler alert: We cannot,” Petra Messick, a elder programme manager with Amtrak, told reporters. “What we recovered is that we volition request to grow beyond the boundaries of Penn to scope the 48 trains per hr trans Hudson capacity.”

That 48 trains benchmark is the expected capableness of the Northeast Corridor enactment aft the sweeping, $40 cardinal Gateway project is completed, removing bottlenecks crossed the New Jersey Meadowlands and gathering an further passageway nether the Hudson River.

Amtrak’s plans person agelong called for an enlargement of Penn Station to the southbound successful bid to physique further platforms to accommodate the expected uptick successful trains.

Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News

Partial interior views of the Moynihan Train Hall connected June 26, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)

As antecedently reported by the Daily News, those plans would apt impact the demolition of what is known arsenic “block 780” — the metropolis artifact betwixt W. 31st and W. 30th Sts., bounded by Seventh and Eighth Aves. — successful bid to make much level abstraction for New Jersey Transit commuter trains.

Penn Station serves 3 antithetic railroads. Amtrak trains traversing the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston participate the presumption via the North River Tunnel nether the Hudson River, and proceed connected to the northbound done the East River Tunnel.

Long Island Rail Road trains travel to the presumption via the East River Tunnel, earlier turning astir to instrumentality to Long Island.

NJ Transit trains stock the North River Tunnel with Amtrak. After dropping their last passengers disconnected astatine Penn Station they proceed done the East River passageway to the Sunny Side Yard successful Queens earlier turning around.

Advocates person floated respective alternate proposals to summation bid capableness portion leaving artifact 780 intact.

One acceptable of proposals involves the instauration of a caller acceptable of platforms beneath the existing presumption — akin to the MTA’s instauration of Grand Central Madison beneath Grand Central Terminal.

Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News

Partial interior views of Penn Station are pictured June 26, 2023. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Daily News)

The different acceptable of proposals, known arsenic “through-running,” would fto NJ Transit trains — which already caput into Queens to crook astir — and LIRR trains proceed connected into 1 another’s territories, minimizing dwell clip and speeding up postulation done Penn.

Wednesday’s study claims neither is feasible.

The ventilation requirements of an further underground presumption would necessitate expanding the footprint of the station, albeit slightly, said Foster Nichols of WSP. Passenger entree would besides beryllium a problem, helium said, successful presumption of placing stairs and elevators done the already constrictive platforms of existing Penn.

And gathering the hold would severely disrupt work into Penn during construction, helium said.

“Huge chunks of the presumption would beryllium retired of work to get it built,” said Nichols.

The study goes connected to reason that through-running would necessitate extended investments successful the wider web of tracks and rolling banal successful bid to guarantee that each railroad’s trains and infrastructure are compatible.

“We looked astatine 2 alternatives,” Messick said. “We recovered they did not conscionable the task goals.”

Messick said the adjacent measurement is to look beyond the footprint of Penn Station. “We’re going to grow our purview and look astatine acquiring spot to grow capacity.”