After what they describe as an exhaustive study of the alternatives, Amtrak and the commuter railroads that use Pennsylvania Station in New York City say they have no choice but to take some property in Midtown Manhattan to make the station bigger.
The idea of expanding the subterranean station, the busiest transit hub in the country, to increase capacity has been kicked around for more than a decade. But community activists and some transit advocates have opposed it and demanded that Amtrak figure out how the existing Penn Station could accommodate more trains and travelers.
On Wednesday, officials of Amtrak, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New Jersey Transit and the other railroads gave their answer: There is no other way.
“We will need to reach beyond” the current boundaries of the station, which sits beneath Madison Square Garden, said Petra Messick, an Amtrak executive.
Here is what we know — and don’t know — about the project now.
How could Penn Station grow?
Despite a sustained decline in ridership on the region’s commuter railroads since the start of the pandemic in 2020, Amtrak and New Jersey Transit want to double the number of trains crossing the Hudson River during the morning and evening rushes. Construction has begun on a tunnel project, known as Gateway, that would add two tracks to the two that were built under the Hudson more than 110 years ago.
As part of that project, Amtrak has long had designs on a full block of Midtown just south of Penn Station. That block, like most of Midtown, is fully developed. It contains apartment buildings, restaurants and a Roman Catholic church that is more than 150 years old.
Gaining control of that block was so ingrained in official plans that Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York, gave a public presentation in 2020 about “Penn Station South.”
But Amtrak officials are more coy about their expansion plans now. They say they are not certain whether they would prefer to take the block south of the station or some land north of it.
The railroads have convened a “station working advisory group” of more than 50 local leaders and transportation experts to consider the expansion options. But they have excluded some of the most vocal opponents of Penn Station South, including Samuel Turvey, who leads a group called ReThink Penn Station.
“They seem to be trying to exclude anybody who has opposed the demolition south of the station,” said Mr. Turvey, who has pressed for more regional rail service on trains that would pass through the station on the way to other places, a practice known as through-running.
What is the argument for through-running?
Unlike the nearby Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station sits atop tracks that continue beyond it in two directions. Amtrak, which owns the station, has trains that pass through it headed toward Boston or Washington.
Those trains run through a station like a subway train does: They stop briefly at a platform, discharge and take on passengers, and keep moving.
But most of the trains that arrive at Penn Station carry commuters or visitors from Long Island or New Jersey whose destination is New York City. Those trains then reverse course, either in the station or after passing through it to a turnaround yard on the West Side of Manhattan or in Queens.
With through-running, Long Island Rail Road trains could continue on to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, for example, or a New Jersey Transit train could carry passengers all the way to the Hamptons.
Mr. Turvey and other advocates of through-running at Penn Station argue that it would vastly improve efficiency, allowing the station to handle many more trains. It also would allow for the transformation of the commuter railroads in the region, extending their reach.
“Through-running would allow you to begin to implement unified regional rail,” Mr. Turvey said. “It is an alternative that allows you to increase capacity without having to demolish a block and a half of Manhattan.”
Railroad officials are not opposed to through-running. But they said they studied the effect it would have on capacity at Penn Station and it came up short of their primary goal: doubling the number of trains the station could handle to 48 per hour.
Tom Wright, chief executive of the nonprofit Regional Plan Association and co-chair of the advisory group, supports through-running, but said he accepted the railroads’ conclusion that “some sort of expansion” was necessary.
How much would this expansion cost?
Amtrak officials say it is too soon to estimate the cost of expanding Penn Station because they have not settled on a plan. But past estimates have run as high as $16 billion.
Expanding the station was part of the sprawling Gateway project, whose costs are being shared by New York, New Jersey and the federal government. New York’s scheme to pay for its share was to allow developers to surround the station with several new office and residential towers.
But the pandemic killed any immediate demand for so much commercial development. Mr. Cuomo’s successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul, announced last year that she was “decoupling” the massive redevelopment plan from her desire to renovate the station, which she once called a “hell hole.”
Other sources of funding have yet to be identified.
What happens now?
Amtrak and the state transportation agencies intend to seek federal permission to expand the station after settling on a plan. The newly formed advisory group met in September and is scheduled to meet again later this month.
In the meantime, the railroads are revising plans for the renovation of Penn Station. In June 2023, Ms. Hochul announced a $7 billion proposal for transforming the station into a “world-class masterpiece.”
But in a recent presentation, railroad officials sounded less ambitious, saying that one of their goals was to minimize the cost of the renovation.
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