Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original owner, 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 considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style. Completed in 1910, it enabled direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. Its head house was torn down in 1963, galvanizing the modern historic preservation movement.[7] The rest of the station was rebuilt in the following six years, while retaining most of the rail infrastructure from the original station.
A new direct entrance from 33rd Street to the LIRR concourse opened in December 2020,[8] followed closely by the opening of Moynihan Train Hall, an expansion of Penn Station into a mixed-use redevelopment of the adjacent Farley Post Office building.[9] Expansion of the LIRR concourse was substantially completed in 2023.[10]Further plans call for adding railway platforms in a new southern annex to accommodate two proposed Gateway Program tunnels under the Hudson River,[11] adding underground connections to the Herald Square station and with the PATH to the 33rd Street station,[12] and renovating the core Penn Station under Madison Square Garden.[13]
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.[14]
The rival New York Central Railroad's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Depot (later replaced by Grand Central Terminal) at 42nd Street.[15] Many proposals for a cross-Hudson connection were advanced in the late 19th century, but financial panics in the 1870s and 1890s scared off potential investors. In any event, none of the proposals advanced during this time were considered feasible.[16]
An early proposal for a bridge was considered but rejected.[17][18] The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but this was infeasible for steam locomotive use.[19] The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century made a tunnel feasible. In 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.[20] The station would sit in Manhattan's Tenderloin district, a historical red-light district known for its corruption and prostitution.[21]
Beginning in June 1903, the two single-track North River Tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River.[22] 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, the PRR-owned Long Island Rail Road, and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled.[23] Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906,[24] and on the East River tunnels on March 18, 1908.[25]
One of few remnants of the original station still in use, a staircase between tracks 3 and 4
A small portion of Penn Station opened on September 8, 1910, in conjunction with the opening of the East River Tunnels, and LIRR riders gained direct railroad service to Manhattan.[26] On November 27, 1910, Penn Station was fully opened to the public.[27] With the station's full opening, the PRR became the only railroad to enter New York City from the south.[28]
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.[21]
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 take the interstate Hudson Tubes (now PATH) or ferries across the Hudson River before boarding their trains. By 1945, at its peak, more than 100 million passengers a year traveled through Penn Station.[21]
By the late 1950s, intercity rail passenger volumes had declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age and the Interstate Highway System. The station's exterior had become somewhat grimy, and due to its vast scale, the station was expensive to maintain.[29][30] A renovation 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, which called for the demolition of the head house and train shed, to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex, while the tracks of the station would remain untouched.[b]
Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden were announced in 1962. In exchange for the air rights to Penn Station, the PRR would receive a smaller underground station at no cost and a 25 percent stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex. Modern architects rushed to save the ornate building, but to no avail;[31] demolition of the above-ground head house began in October 1963.[32]
A giant steel deck was placed over the tracks and platforms to allow rail service to continue during construction. Photographs of the day showed passengers waiting for trains even as the head house was demolished around them.[29] This was possible because most of the rail infrastructure (including the waiting room, concourses, and boarding platforms) was below street level.[33]
The demolition of the Penn Station head house was controversial and caused outrage internationally.[34][35] "One entered the city like a god. One scuttles in now like a rat," the architectural historian Vincent Scully famously wrote of the original station.[36] The controversy over the demolition of such a well-known landmark, and its deplored replacement,[37] is often cited as a catalyst for the architectural preservation movement in the United States.[7] 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.[38]
Post-1968, the core Penn Station has been underground, sitting below Madison Square Garden, 33rd Street, and Two Penn Plaza. The core has three levels: concourses on the upper two levels and train platforms on the lowest. The two levels of concourses, while renovated and expanded during the construction of Madison Square Garden, are original to the 1910 station, as are the tracks and platforms.[39]
Over the following decades, various renovations attempted to add service and some concourse space. The West End Concourse under Eighth Avenue opened in 1986.[40] In 1987, a rail connection to the West Side Rail Yard opened,[41] and in 1991, the opening of the Empire Connection allowed Amtrak to consolidate all of its New York City trains at Penn Station. Previously, all trains running along the Empire Corridor terminated at nearby Grand Central Terminal. This was a legacy of the two stations' roots in separate railroads–the PRR and New York Central, respectively. The consolidation saved Amtrak the expense of having to maintain two stations in New York City, including having to pay the MTA $600,000 in fees a year.[42][43][44]
In 1994, the station was renovated to add the 34th Street LIRR entrance and central corridor, along with artwork and improved waiting and concession areas.[45] The new entrance consisted of a 90-foot-tall (27 m) structure with a glass and brick facade, a clock salvaged from the original station, and air-conditioning units for the terminal.[46] In 2002, the NJ Transit concourse was created in space previously occupied by retail and Amtrak office space,[47] although the concourse could only be accessed from the Amtrak entrance on 32nd Street.[48] Plans for a new entrance from 31st Street to the NJ Transit concourse were announced in 2006,[49][50] and the entrance opened in 2009.[48][51]
After the September 11 attacks, security was increased and passenger flow curtailed. In 2002, $100 million of work added security features such as lighting, cameras, and barricades.[52] The taxiway under Madison Square Garden, which ran from 31st Street to 33rd Street at mid-block, was permanently closed off with concrete Jersey barriers. Escalators providing direct access to the lobby of Madison Square Garden were closed and later removed. The underground Gimbels Passageway connecting pedestrians to 34th Street–Herald Square has been sealed off since 1986,[53] after decades of safety concerns and sexual assaults.[54]
Despite the modest renovations, the underground Penn Station continued to be criticized as "reviled," "dysfunctional," and a low-ceilinged "catacomb" lacking charm, especially when compared to the much larger and more ornate Grand Central Terminal.[34] The New York Times, in a November 2007 editorial supporting development of an enlarged terminal, said that "Amtrak's beleaguered customers...scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character,"[55] and Times transit reporter Michael M. Grynbaum called Penn Station "the ugly stepchild of the city’s two great rail terminals."[30] After its nadir in the 1960s, ridership exploded in subsequent decades, a situation never contemplated by the structure's designers. By the 2010s, the station operated at almost three times its intended capacity; over 600,000 passengers used the station daily in 2019.[29]
In the early 1990s, U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan proposed building a new station in the James A. Farley Building, the city's former main post office across the street which was designed by the same firm as the original Penn Station; Moynihan had shined shoes in the original station as a boy.[56][57][58] Many redevelopment or expansion concepts were unveiled over the 1990s and 2000s, but none reached fruition until funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enabled the expansion of the West End Concourse of the LIRR under the Farley Building in 2016.[59] Building on it, in 2016 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans for the renovation of Penn Station and mixed-use redevelopment of the Farley Building, including development of a new train hall, which he called the Empire Station Complex.[60] The new expansion, Moynihan Train Hall, opened in January 2021, named for the man who had conceived it.[61] The $1.6 billion, 255,000-square-foot (23,700 m2) renovation retained the original, landmarked Beaux Arts Farley Building, added a central atrium with a glass roof, and provided access to Amtrak and LIRR trains.[62][9] A new 33rd Street entrance to the LIRR concourse opened at the same time.[8]
The station received a place in the world selection for the 2021 Prix Versailles in the passenger stations category.[63][64]
Following the opening of the 33rd Street entrance, the LIRR concourse was doubled in width, from 30 to 57 feet (9.1 to 17.4 m), and the ceilings raised to a minimum height of 18 feet (5.5 m).[10] To raise the ceiling, workers removed seven "head knockers,"[65] low-hanging steel beams which were part of the original Penn Station and were only 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) above the concourse's floor.[66][67] In March 2023, the MTA declared the concourse substantially complete.[68] As part of the project, 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues will be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian plaza.[69]
Services
A 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.[70] There are more than 600,000 subway, commuter rail and Amtrak passengers who use the station on an average weekday,[71][72] or up to 1,000 every ninety seconds.[30][73]: 498, 891 It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States[74] and in North America.[73]: 890–891
Intercity rail
Amtrak
An Amtrak platform at Penn Station
Amtrak owns the station and uses it for the following services:
Acela to Boston (northern terminus) and Washington D.C. (southern terminus)
Vermonter to Washington D.C. (southern terminus) and St. Albans (northern terminus)
All except the Acela,Northeast Regional and Vermonter originate and terminate at Penn Station. Amtrak normally uses tracks 5–12 alongside New Jersey Transit and shares tracks 13–16 with the LIRR and NJ Transit.
Commuter rail
Long Island Rail Road
The following Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) services originate and terminate at Penn Station:
NJT normally uses tracks 1 to 4 exclusively, as these four tracks end at bumper blocks to their east. NJT shares tracks 5 through 12 with Amtrak, and occasionally uses tracks 13 to 16, which are shared with Amtrak and the LIRR.
Rapid transit
New York City Subway
Connections are available to the following New York City Subway stations:[75]
Connections are also available to the PATH system at 33rd Street station, under Sixth Avenue on Herald Square. The JSQ-33 and HOB-33 services terminate at 33rd Street on weekdays, and are combined into the JSQ-33 (via HOB) service on late nights, weekends and holidays.
M7 (Lenox, Columbus, Amsterdam, Sixth and Seventh Avenues): southbound to Greenwich Village, via Seventh Avenue; or northbound to Harlem via Sixth, Amsterdam, and Lenox Avenues
M20 (Seventh and Eighth Avenues/Varick and Hudson Streets): northbound to Lincoln Center via Eighth Avenue; or southbound to South Ferry via Seventh Avenue
Intercity bus service to and from Penn Station is provided by Vamoose Bus, Tripper Bus, and Go Buses. Vamoose Bus runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Bethesda, Maryland; Arlington, Virginia; and Lorton, Virginia.[77] Tripper Bus runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Bethesda, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia.[78]Go Buses runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Newton, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Most intercity and commuter bus services to and from midtown Manhattan use the Port Authority Bus Terminal, located approximately 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) to the north of Penn Station.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to bring Metro-North Railroad commuter trains to Penn Station as part of its Penn Station Access project. The East Side Access project, which opened in 2023, will free up track and platform space at Penn Station by redirecting some LIRR trains from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal. This new capacity, as well as track connections resulting from the East Side Access project, would allow Metro-North trains on the New Haven Line to run to Penn Station via Amtrak's Hell Gate Bridge.[79]
Four new local Metro-North stations in the Bronx are planned as part of this project, at Co-op City, Morris Park, Parkchester/VanNest, and Hunts Point. The MTA also proposes a second connection from the Metro-North's Hudson Line to Penn Station using Amtrak's West Side Line in Manhattan.[80] The Penn Station Access project would provide direct rides from Connecticut, Westchester County, the Lower Hudson Valley, and the Bronx to West Midtown; ease reverse-commuting from Manhattan and the Bronx to Westchester County, the Lower Hudson Valley, and Connecticut; and provide transportation service to areas of the Bronx without direct subway service.[81]
Station layout
Long Island Railroad concourse as renovation nears conclusion, 2023
The West End Concourse
Penn Station does not have a unified design or floor plan but rather is divided into separate Amtrak, LIRR and NJ Transit concourses with each concourse maintained and styled differently by its respective operator.[82] The 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.[83]
The main concourse, which was principally used by Amtrak until the opening of the Moynihan Train Hall, is at the west end of the station directly beneath Madison Square Garden.[83][84] It was created out of the original station's waiting rooms and main concourse, though few remnants of the original still exist in the space. It was renovated in the early 2000s in anticipation of Acela service and includes an enclosed waiting area for ticketed passengers with seats, outlets and WiFi.[85] The ticketed waiting room underwent a $7.2 million renovation from 2019 to 2020 that was funded jointly between Amtrak and NJ Transit. The renovation included new furniture and fixtures that feature seats with electrical and USB outlets, an upgraded ceiling with new LED lighting, a new information desk, a second entrance in close proximity to the NJ Transit concourse that provides improved access towards the Seventh Avenue side of the Station, two new Passenger Information Display Systems boards that display NJ Transit departure information and a lactation suite for nursing mothers.[86]
The LIRR's connecting concourse runs below West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, as it has since the original station opened in 1910.[87] Significant renovations were made to the LIRR areas over a three-year period ending in 1994,[88] including the opening of the Central Corridor passageway and the addition of a new entry pavilion on 34th Street.[89] The West End Concourse, west of Eighth Avenue, opened in 1986,[40] and was widened and lengthened to cover tracks 5 through 21 in 2017.[90]
The NJ Transit concourse near Seventh Avenue opened in 2002 out of existing retail and Amtrak office space.[91] A new street-level entrance to this concourse at the corner of 31st Street and Seventh Avenue opened in September 2009.[92] Previously, NJ Transit used space in the Amtrak concourse.[93]
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.[94] The station's three providers use different official addresses for the station.
pennsylvania, station, york, city, this, article, about, modern, intercity, rail, station, york, city, other, uses, pennsylvania, station, pennsylvania, station, also, known, york, penn, station, simply, penn, station, main, intercity, railroad, station, york,. This article is about the modern intercity rail station in New York City For other uses see Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere serving more than 600 000 passengers per weekday as of 2019 update 5 6 a It is located in Midtown Manhattan beneath Madison Square Garden in the block bounded by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets and in the James A Farley Building with additional exits to nearby streets It is close to Herald Square the Empire State Building Koreatown and Macy s Herald Square Pennsylvania StationNew York NYAmtrak Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit terminalMoynihan Train Hall Main concourseGeneral informationLocationBounded by 7th amp 9th Avenues and 31st amp 33rd Streets under Madison Square Garden and in James A Farley Building Manhattan New York CityUnited StatesOwned byAmtrakLine s Northeast Corridor Empire CorridorPlatforms11 island platformsTracks21ConnectionsNew York City Subway at 34th Street Penn Station 7th Av at 34th Street Penn Station 8th Av PATH JSQ 33 HOB 33 JSQ 33 via HOB at 33rd Street MTA New York City Bus M7 M20 M34 SBS M34A SBS SIM23 SIM24 Q32Columbia Transportation Brooklyn Commuter Route Manhattan Commuter RouteFlixbus Eastern ShuttleVamoose BusConstructionAccessibleYesOther informationStation codeAmtrak NYPIATA codeZYPFare zoneZone 1 LIRR Zone 1 NJ Transit HistoryOpened1910 113 years ago 1910 Rebuilt1963 1968 55 years ago 1968 Passengers201727 296 100 annually 1 2 NJT FY 20214 061 379 annually 3 Amtrak 201769 722 560 annually based on average arrivals and departures 4 LIRR ServicesPreceding station Amtrak Following stationNewark Penntoward Washington D C Acela Stamfordtoward Boston SouthVermonter Stamfordtoward St AlbansNewark Penntoward Norfolk Newport News or Roanoke Northeast Regional New Rochelletoward Boston South or SpringfieldYonkerstoward Montreal Adirondack TerminusYonkerstoward Pittsfield Berkshire FlyerNewark Penntoward Chicago CardinalNewark Penntoward Charlotte CarolinianNewark Penntoward New Orleans CrescentYonkerstoward Niagara Falls New York Empire ServiceYonkerstoward Burlington Ethan Allen ExpressNewark Penntoward Harrisburg Keystone ServiceCroton Harmontoward Chicago Lake Shore LimitedYonkerstoward Toronto Maple LeafNewark Penntoward Savannah PalmettoNewark Penntoward Pittsburgh PennsylvanianNewark Penntoward Miami Silver MeteorSilver StarPreceding station Long Island Rail Road Following stationTerminus Port Washington Branch Woodsidetoward Port WashingtonHempstead Branch Woodsidetoward HempsteadPort Jefferson Branch Woodsidetoward Port JeffersonOyster Bay Branchlimited service Jamaicatoward Oyster BayRonkonkoma Branch Woodsidetoward GreenportMontauk Branch Jamaicatoward MontaukFar Rockaway Branch Woodsidetoward Far RockawayBabylon Branch Woodsidetoward BabylonWest Hempstead Branch Woodsidetoward West HempsteadLong Beach Branch Woodsidetoward Long BeachPreceding station NJ Transit Following stationSecaucus Junctiontoward Trenton Northeast Corridor Line TerminusSecaucus Junctiontoward Bay Head North Jersey Coast LineSecaucus Junctiontoward Hackettstown Montclair Boonton LineMorristown LineSecaucus Junctiontoward High Bridge Raritan Valley LineSecaucus Junctiontoward Gladstone Gladstone BranchFormer servicesPreceding station Amtrak Following stationTerminus Cape Codder1986 1996 Stamfordtoward HyannisNewark Penntoward Tri State Hilltopper1978 1979 Stamfordtoward Boston SouthNewark Penntoward Washington D C Metroliner1971 2006 TerminusMontrealer1972 1995 Ryetoward MontrealNewark Penntoward Kansas City National Limited1971 1979 TerminusNewark Penntoward Chicago Broadway LimitedUntil 1995Three Rivers1995 2005Newark Penntoward Kansas City National LimitedPreceding station NJ Transit Following stationNewark Penn Stationtoward Atlantic City Atlantic City Express Service TerminusFuture ServicesPreceding station Metro North Railroad Following stationTerminus New Haven Line Hunts Pointtoward StamfordInteractive mapCoordinates40 45 2 N 73 59 38 W 40 75056 N 73 99389 W 40 75056 73 99389 Coordinates 40 45 2 N 73 59 38 W 40 75056 N 73 99389 W 40 75056 73 99389Penn 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 to 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 NJ Transit NJT Connections are available within the complex to the New York City Subway and buses Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad PRR its builder and original owner 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 considered a masterpiece of the Beaux Arts style Completed in 1910 it enabled direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time Its head house was torn down in 1963 galvanizing the modern historic preservation movement 7 The rest of the station was rebuilt in the following six years while retaining most of the rail infrastructure from the original station A new direct entrance from 33rd Street to the LIRR concourse opened in December 2020 8 followed closely by the opening of Moynihan Train Hall an expansion of Penn Station into a mixed use redevelopment of the adjacent Farley Post Office building 9 Expansion of the LIRR concourse was substantially completed in 2023 10 Further plans call for adding railway platforms in a new southern annex to accommodate two proposed Gateway Program tunnels under the Hudson River 11 adding underground connections to the Herald Square station and with the PATH to the 33rd Street station 12 and renovating the core Penn Station under Madison Square Garden 13 Contents 1 History 1 1 Planning and construction 1 2 Original structure 1 3 Under Madison Square Garden 1 4 Expansion and renovation 2 Services 2 1 Intercity rail 2 1 1 Amtrak 2 2 Commuter rail 2 2 1 Long Island Rail Road 2 2 2 NJ Transit 2 3 Rapid transit 2 3 1 New York City Subway 2 3 2 PATH 2 4 Bus and coach 2 4 1 New York City Bus 2 4 2 Intercity coaches 2 5 Proposed Metro North service 3 Station layout 3 1 Tracks and surrounding infrastructure 3 1 1 2017 2018 service disruptions and track improvements 4 Planning and redevelopment 4 1 Empire Station Complex 4 2 Gateway Program 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 7 1 Bibliography 8 External linksHistory EditPlanning and construction Edit Main article New York Tunnel Extension Pennsylvania Station Excavation by George Bellows c 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 14 The rival New York Central Railroad s line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Depot later replaced by Grand Central Terminal at 42nd Street 15 Many proposals for a cross Hudson connection were advanced in the late 19th century but financial panics in the 1870s and 1890s scared off potential investors In any event none of the proposals advanced during this time were considered feasible 16 An early proposal for a bridge was considered but rejected 17 18 The alternative was to tunnel under the river but this was infeasible for steam locomotive use 19 The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century made a tunnel feasible In 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 20 The station would sit in Manhattan s Tenderloin district a historical red light district known for its corruption and prostitution 21 Beginning in June 1903 the two single track North River Tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River 22 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 the PRR owned Long Island Rail Road and Sunnyside Yard in Queens where trains would be maintained and assembled 23 Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9 1906 24 and on the East River tunnels on March 18 1908 25 Original structure Edit Main article Pennsylvania Station 1910 1963 Penn Station exterior 1911 Penn Station interior 1930s One of few remnants of the original station still in use a staircase between tracks 3 and 4 A small portion of Penn Station opened on September 8 1910 in conjunction with the opening of the East River Tunnels and LIRR riders gained direct railroad service to Manhattan 26 On November 27 1910 Penn Station was fully opened to the public 27 With the station s full opening the PRR became the only railroad to enter New York City from the south 28 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 21 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 take the interstate Hudson Tubes now PATH or ferries across the Hudson River before boarding their trains By 1945 at its peak more than 100 million passengers a year traveled through Penn Station 21 By the late 1950s intercity rail passenger volumes had declined dramatically with the coming of the Jet Age and the Interstate Highway System The station s exterior had become somewhat grimy and due to its vast scale the station was expensive to maintain 29 30 A renovation 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 which called for the demolition of the head house and train shed to be replaced by an office complex and a new sports complex while the tracks of the station would remain untouched b Plans for the new Penn Plaza and Madison Square Garden were announced in 1962 In exchange for the air rights to Penn Station the PRR would receive a smaller underground station at no cost and a 25 percent stake in the new Madison Square Garden Complex Modern architects rushed to save the ornate building but to no avail 31 demolition of the above ground head house began in October 1963 32 A giant steel deck was placed over the tracks and platforms to allow rail service to continue during construction Photographs of the day showed passengers waiting for trains even as the head house was demolished around them 29 This was possible because most of the rail infrastructure including the waiting room concourses and boarding platforms was below street level 33 The demolition of the Penn Station head house was controversial and caused outrage internationally 34 35 One entered the city like a god One scuttles in now like a rat the architectural historian Vincent Scully famously wrote of the original station 36 The controversy over the demolition of such a well known landmark and its deplored replacement 37 is often cited as a catalyst for the architectural preservation movement in the United States 7 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 38 Under Madison Square Garden Edit See also Madison Square Garden and Pennsylvania Plaza Amtrak concourse in 1974 Long Island Rail Road concourse in 2005 Amtrak concourse in 2007 Post 1968 the core Penn Station has been underground sitting below Madison Square Garden 33rd Street and Two Penn Plaza The core has three levels concourses on the upper two levels and train platforms on the lowest The two levels of concourses while renovated and expanded during the construction of Madison Square Garden are original to the 1910 station as are the tracks and platforms 39 Over the following decades various renovations attempted to add service and some concourse space The West End Concourse under Eighth Avenue opened in 1986 40 In 1987 a rail connection to the West Side Rail Yard opened 41 and in 1991 the opening of the Empire Connection allowed Amtrak to consolidate all of its New York City trains at Penn Station Previously all trains running along the Empire Corridor terminated at nearby Grand Central Terminal This was a legacy of the two stations roots in separate railroads the PRR and New York Central respectively The consolidation saved Amtrak the expense of having to maintain two stations in New York City including having to pay the MTA 600 000 in fees a year 42 43 44 In 1994 the station was renovated to add the 34th Street LIRR entrance and central corridor along with artwork and improved waiting and concession areas 45 The new entrance consisted of a 90 foot tall 27 m structure with a glass and brick facade a clock salvaged from the original station and air conditioning units for the terminal 46 In 2002 the NJ Transit concourse was created in space previously occupied by retail and Amtrak office space 47 although the concourse could only be accessed from the Amtrak entrance on 32nd Street 48 Plans for a new entrance from 31st Street to the NJ Transit concourse were announced in 2006 49 50 and the entrance opened in 2009 48 51 After the September 11 attacks security was increased and passenger flow curtailed In 2002 100 million of work added security features such as lighting cameras and barricades 52 The taxiway under Madison Square Garden which ran from 31st Street to 33rd Street at mid block was permanently closed off with concrete Jersey barriers Escalators providing direct access to the lobby of Madison Square Garden were closed and later removed The underground Gimbels Passageway connecting pedestrians to 34th Street Herald Square has been sealed off since 1986 53 after decades of safety concerns and sexual assaults 54 Despite the modest renovations the underground Penn Station continued to be criticized as reviled dysfunctional and a low ceilinged catacomb lacking charm especially when compared to the much larger and more ornate Grand Central Terminal 34 The New York Times in a November 2007 editorial supporting development of an enlarged terminal said that Amtrak s beleaguered customers scurry through underground rooms bereft of light or character 55 and Times transit reporter Michael M Grynbaum called Penn Station the ugly stepchild of the city s two great rail terminals 30 After its nadir in the 1960s ridership exploded in subsequent decades a situation never contemplated by the structure s designers By the 2010s the station operated at almost three times its intended capacity over 600 000 passengers used the station daily in 2019 29 Expansion and renovation Edit See also Moynihan Train Hall East End Gateway completed in 2020 In the early 1990s U S Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan proposed building a new station in the James A Farley Building the city s former main post office across the street which was designed by the same firm as the original Penn Station Moynihan had shined shoes in the original station as a boy 56 57 58 Many redevelopment or expansion concepts were unveiled over the 1990s and 2000s but none reached fruition until funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enabled the expansion of the West End Concourse of the LIRR under the Farley Building in 2016 59 Building on it in 2016 New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced plans for the renovation of Penn Station and mixed use redevelopment of the Farley Building including development of a new train hall which he called the Empire Station Complex 60 The new expansion Moynihan Train Hall opened in January 2021 named for the man who had conceived it 61 The 1 6 billion 255 000 square foot 23 700 m2 renovation retained the original landmarked Beaux Arts Farley Building added a central atrium with a glass roof and provided access to Amtrak and LIRR trains 62 9 A new 33rd Street entrance to the LIRR concourse opened at the same time 8 The station received a place in the world selection for the 2021 Prix Versailles in the passenger stations category 63 64 Following the opening of the 33rd Street entrance the LIRR concourse was doubled in width from 30 to 57 feet 9 1 to 17 4 m and the ceilings raised to a minimum height of 18 feet 5 5 m 10 To raise the ceiling workers removed seven head knockers 65 low hanging steel beams which were part of the original Penn Station and were only 6 feet 8 inches 2 03 m above the concourse s floor 66 67 In March 2023 the MTA declared the concourse substantially complete 68 As part of the project 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues will be permanently closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian plaza 69 Services Edit A 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 70 There are more than 600 000 subway commuter rail and Amtrak passengers who use the station on an average weekday 71 72 or up to 1 000 every ninety seconds 30 73 498 891 It is the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States 74 and in North America 73 890 891 Intercity rail Edit Amtrak Edit An Amtrak platform at Penn Station Amtrak owns the station and uses it for the following services Acela to Boston northern terminus and Washington D C southern terminus Adirondack to Montreal Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield Cardinal to Chicago Carolinian to Charlotte Crescent to New Orleans Empire Service to Albany and Niagara Falls NY Ethan Allen Express to Burlington Keystone Service to Harrisburg Lake Shore Limited to Chicago Maple Leaf to Toronto Pennsylvanian to Pittsburgh Northeast Regional to Boston or Springfield northern termini and Roanoke Newport News Richmond or Norfolk southern termini Palmetto to Savannah Silver Meteor to Miami Silver Star to Miami Vermonter to Washington D C southern terminus and St Albans northern terminus All except the Acela Northeast Regional and Vermonter originate and terminate at Penn Station Amtrak normally uses tracks 5 12 alongside New Jersey Transit and shares tracks 13 16 with the LIRR and NJ Transit Commuter rail Edit Long Island Rail Road Edit The following Long Island Rail Road LIRR services originate and terminate at Penn Station Babylon Branch to Babylon Belmont Park Branch seasonal service to Belmont Park Far Rockaway Branch to Far Rockaway Queens in New York City Hempstead Branch to Hempstead Long Beach Branch to Long Beach Montauk Branch to Babylon and Montauk Oyster Bay Branch to Oyster Bay Port Jefferson Branch to Huntington and Port Jefferson Port Washington Branch to Port Washington Ronkonkoma Branch to Ronkonkoma with connecting service to Greenport West Hempstead Branch to Hempstead All branches connect at Jamaica station except the Port Washington Branch Jamaica station also connects to Airtrain JFK for service to John F Kennedy International Airport Normally the LIRR uses tracks 17 to 21 exclusively and shares tracks 13 to 16 with Amtrak and NJT The LIRR uses tracks 11 and 12 on rare occasions NJ Transit Edit NJ Transit ticket counter A NJ Transit platform The following NJ Transit Rail Operations NJT branches originate and terminate at Penn Station Montclair Boonton Line to Montclair State University station with connecting service west to Hackettstown Morris and Essex Lines consisting of the Morristown Line to Dover via Morristown and the Gladstone Branch to Gladstone Northeast Corridor Line to Trenton North Jersey Coast Line to Long Branch and Bay Head Raritan Valley Line to Raritan and High BridgeNJT normally uses tracks 1 to 4 exclusively as these four tracks end at bumper blocks to their east NJT shares tracks 5 through 12 with Amtrak and occasionally uses tracks 13 to 16 which are shared with Amtrak and the LIRR Rapid transit Edit New York City Subway Edit Connections are available to the following New York City Subway stations 75 From Penn Station A C and E trains at 34th Street Penn Station under Eighth Avenue 1 2 and 3 trains at 34th Street Penn Station under Seventh Avenue From Herald Square one block east at Sixth Avenue B D F lt F gt M N Q R and W trains at 34th Street Herald Square station under Broadway amp Sixth AvenuePATH Edit Connections are also available to the PATH system at 33rd Street station under Sixth Avenue on Herald Square The JSQ 33 and HOB 33 services terminate at 33rd Street on weekdays and are combined into the JSQ 33 via HOB service on late nights weekends and holidays Bus and coach Edit 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 Edit The following MTA Regional Bus Operations buses stop near Penn Station 76 M7 Lenox Columbus Amsterdam Sixth and Seventh Avenues southbound to Greenwich Village via Seventh Avenue or northbound to Harlem via Sixth Amsterdam and Lenox Avenues M20 Seventh and Eighth Avenues Varick and Hudson Streets northbound to Lincoln Center via Eighth Avenue or southbound to South Ferry via Seventh Avenue M34 Select Bus Service 34th Street Crosstown westbound to Javits Center or eastbound to FDR Drive M34A Select Bus Service 34th Street Crosstown westbound to Port Authority Bus Terminal or eastbound to Waterside Plaza and Kips Bay Q32 Fifth and Madison Avenues northbound only to Jackson Heights QueensIntercity coaches Edit Intercity bus service to and from Penn Station is provided by Vamoose Bus Tripper Bus and Go Buses Vamoose Bus runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Bethesda Maryland Arlington Virginia and Lorton Virginia 77 Tripper Bus runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Bethesda Maryland and Arlington Virginia 78 Go Buses runs buses from a stop near Penn Station to Newton Massachusetts and Cambridge Massachusetts Most intercity and commuter bus services to and from midtown Manhattan use the Port Authority Bus Terminal located approximately 0 5 miles 0 8 kilometers to the north of Penn Station Proposed Metro North service Edit Main article Penn Station Access The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to bring Metro North Railroad commuter trains to Penn Station as part of its Penn Station Access project The East Side Access project which opened in 2023 will free up track and platform space at Penn Station by redirecting some LIRR trains from Penn Station to Grand Central Terminal This new capacity as well as track connections resulting from the East Side Access project would allow Metro North trains on the New Haven Line to run to Penn Station via Amtrak s Hell Gate Bridge 79 Four new local Metro North stations in the Bronx are planned as part of this project at Co op City Morris Park Parkchester VanNest and Hunts Point The MTA also proposes a second connection from the Metro North s Hudson Line to Penn Station using Amtrak s West Side Line in Manhattan 80 The Penn Station Access project would provide direct rides from Connecticut Westchester County the Lower Hudson Valley and the Bronx to West Midtown ease reverse commuting from Manhattan and the Bronx to Westchester County the Lower Hudson Valley and Connecticut and provide transportation service to areas of the Bronx without direct subway service 81 Station layout Edit Long Island Railroad concourse as renovation nears conclusion 2023 The West End Concourse Penn Station does not have a unified design or floor plan but rather is divided into separate Amtrak LIRR and NJ Transit concourses with each concourse maintained and styled differently by its respective operator 82 The 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 83 The main concourse which was principally used by Amtrak until the opening of the Moynihan Train Hall is at the west end of the station directly beneath Madison Square Garden 83 84 It was created out of the original station s waiting rooms and main concourse though few remnants of the original still exist in the space It was renovated in the early 2000s in anticipation of Acela service and includes an enclosed waiting area for ticketed passengers with seats outlets and WiFi 85 The ticketed waiting room underwent a 7 2 million renovation from 2019 to 2020 that was funded jointly between Amtrak and NJ Transit The renovation included new furniture and fixtures that feature seats with electrical and USB outlets an upgraded ceiling with new LED lighting a new information desk a second entrance in close proximity to the NJ Transit concourse that provides improved access towards the Seventh Avenue side of the Station two new Passenger Information Display Systems boards that display NJ Transit departure information and a lactation suite for nursing mothers 86 The LIRR s connecting concourse runs below West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues as it has since the original station opened in 1910 87 Significant renovations were made to the LIRR areas over a three year period ending in 1994 88 including the opening of the Central Corridor passageway and the addition of a new entry pavilion on 34th Street 89 The West End Concourse west of Eighth Avenue opened in 1986 40 and was widened and lengthened to cover tracks 5 through 21 in 2017 90 The NJ Transit concourse near Seventh Avenue opened in 2002 out of existing retail and Amtrak office space 91 A new street level entrance to this concourse at the corner of 31st Street and Seventh Avenue opened in September 2009 92 Previously NJ Transit used space in the Amtrak concourse 93 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 94 The station s three providers use different official addresses for the station Amtrak 351 West 31st Street LIRR 34th Street at 7th and 8th Avenues NJ Transit 31st Street and 7th Avenue LIRR concourse in 2015 Amtrak concourse East End Gateway at 7th Avenue 8th Avenue entrance Entrance in the Farley Post Office BuildingStation layoutAbove ground Madison Square Garden Two Penn Plaza 95 G Street Level Exit EntranceUC Amtrak Concourse Amtrak tickets transfer to 34th Street Penn Station IND Eighth Avenue Line station exit to 33rd Street connection to Exit and Connecting concourses 95 NJT Concourse NJT tickets exit to 31st Street connect to LIRR and Hilton concourses 95 LC West End Concourse Amtrak LIRR tickets transfer to 34th Street Penn Station IND Eighth Avenue Line station exit to 33rd Street connection to Exit and Connecting concourses 95 Exit Concourse Exit to 31st Street connection to Hilton West End and Connecting concourses 95 Hilton Corridor Exit to Seventh Avenue connection to Exit LIRR Central and NJT concourses 95 Central Concourse Tickets connection to Connecting and Hilton concourses 95 Connecting Concourse Transfer to 34th Street Penn Station IRT Broadway Seventh Avenue Line station connection to West End LIRR Central and Exit concourses to One Penn Plaza and 34th Street at north end 95 LIRR Concourse LIRR tickets connection to NJT and Hilton concourses 95 PPlatform level Track 21 LIRR toward Long Island Island platform Platform 11 Track 20 LIRR toward Long Island Track 19 LIRR toward Long Island Island platform Platform 10 Track 18 LIRR toward Long Island Island platform Platform 9 Track 17 onlyTrack 17 LIRR toward Long Island Track 16 Amtrak NJ Transit LIRR Island platform Platform 8 Track 15 Amtrak NJ Transit LIRR Track 14 Amtrak NJ Transit LIRR Island platform Platform 7 Track 13 Amtrak NJ Transit LIRR Track 12 Amtrak NJ Transit LIRR Island platform Platform 6 Track 11 Amtrak NJ Transit Track 10 Amtrak NJ Transit Island platform Platform 5 Track 9 Amtrak NJ Transit Track 8 Amtrak NJ Transit Island platform Platform 4 Track 7 Amtrak NJ Transit Track 6 Amtrak NJ Transit Island platform Platform 3 Track 5 Amtrak NJ TransitTrack 4 NJ Transit toward New JerseyIsland platform Platform 2 Track 3 NJ Transit toward New JerseyTrack 2 NJ Transit toward New JerseyIsland platform Platform 1 Track 1 NJ Transit toward New JerseyTracks and surrounding infrastructure Edit vtePenn Station track layoutLegend North River Tunnels to Secaucus to West Side Yard Empire Connection to Yonkers LD1 LD3 1A 3A 5A 2X 4X 6X LD2 LD4 1E3E 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 Moynihan Train Hall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Platform numbers 13 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 span, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
