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

A joint Amtrak, NJ Transit and MTA analysis released Wednesday indicates that the planned doubling of train capacity into Penn Station will likely require an expansion of the facility beyond its current boundaries.

The report, commissioned by the transit-agency triumvirate from consultants at WSP, assessed two different plans for through-running and two different plans to build additional platforms below the existing station to determine whether any of those scenarios could support a planned 48 trains per hour coming under the Hudson River.

“Spoiler alert: We cannot,” Petra Messick, a senior program director with Amtrak, told reporters. “What we found is that we will need to expand beyond the boundaries of Penn to reach the 48 trains per hour trans-Hudson capacity.”

That 48 trains benchmark is the expected capacity of the Northeast Corridor line after the sweeping, $40 billion Gateway project is completed, removing bottlenecks across the New Jersey Meadowlands and building an additional tunnel under the Hudson River.

Amtrak’s plans have long called for an expansion of Penn Station to the south in order to build additional platforms to accommodate the expected uptick in trains.

As previously reported by the Daily News, those plans would likely involve the demolition of what is known as “block 780” — the city block between W. 31st and W. 30th Sts., bounded by Seventh and Eighth Aves. — in order to create more platform space for New Jersey Transit commuter trains.

Penn Station serves three different railroads. Amtrak trains traversing the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston enter the station via the North River Tunnel under the Hudson River, and continue on to the north through the East River Tunnel.

Long Island Rail Road trains come to the station via the East River Tunnel, before turning around to return to Long Island.

NJ Transit trains share the North River Tunnel with Amtrak. After dropping their final passengers off at Penn Station they continue through the East River tunnel to the Sunnyside Yard in Queens before turning around.

Advocates have floated several alternative proposals to increase train capacity while leaving block 780 intact.

One set of proposals involves the creation of a new set of platforms below the existing station — akin to the MTA’s creation of Grand Central Madison below Grand Central Terminal.

The other set of proposals, known as “through-running,” would let NJ Transit trains — which already head into Queens to turn around — and LIRR trains continue on into one another’s territories, minimizing dwell time and speeding up traffic through Penn.

Wednesday’s report claims neither is feasible.

The ventilation requirements of an additional underground station would necessitate expanding the footprint of the station, albeit slightly, said Foster Nichols of WSP. Passenger access would also be a problem, he said, in terms of placing stairs and elevators through the already narrow platforms of existing Penn.

And building the extension would severely disrupt service into Penn during construction, he said.

“Huge chunks of the station would be out of service to get it built,” said Nichols.

The report goes on to argue that through-running would require extensive investments in the wider network of tracks and rolling stock in order to ensure that each railroad’s trains and infrastructure are compatible.

“We looked at two alternatives,” Messick said. “We found they did not meet the project goals.”

Messick said the next step is to look beyond the footprint of Penn Station. “We’re going to expand our purview and look at acquiring property to expand capacity.”

Originally Published: October 2, 2024 at 6:22 p.m.