Planners Ignored Penn Station’s Core Problems for Decades. A New Study Changes That.
High Speed Rail Alliance
How the MTA, Amtrak, and NJ TRANSIT Built—and Failed to Sustain—Regional Rail to the Meadowlands
The eight-year rise and fall of a train service that crossed Penn Station—and what it shows about plans to let commuter trains continue through the station instead of ending there.
Trump’s Penn Station rebuild opens door to unifying New York’s railroads
The idea to unite New York and New Jersey’s busiest railroads has long been dismissed by elected officials on both sides of the Hudson River for logistical and political reasons. But now the time may finally come. As President Donald Trump pushes ahead with a federally run renovation of Penn Station and crews build a new set of rail tunnels beneath the Hudson River, supporters say there’s a rare opportunity to reorganize the entire rail network.
Unlocking Newark
Newark feels distant because the trip breaks at New York Penn Station.
Penn Through-Running District Atlas
This page translates a tract-level through-running model into a district-facing public-policy brief. It shows where Penn through-running would most clearly matter, which corridors were actually modeled, who currently represents each district, and why some districts are first-wave winners while others are more indirect parts of the regional case.
Amtrak’s Funding to Regional Plan Association Surpasses $2.3 Million Since 2017
Tax records reviewed by AN show the Regional Plan Association has received $2.3 million from Amtrak since 2017, contradicting earlier narratives about the organization’s independence. The report highlights the conflict of interest inherent in the RPA championing Amtrak-led projects, including the Gateway Program, while on the agency’s payroll.
Trump boasts that the $16 billion Gateway Project is “terminated”
The Architect’s Newspaper
What is the Penn Station Capacity Improvements Project (PCIP)?
Contents Introduction Background & Context Scope & Methodology Infrastructure Alternatives Operational Alternatives Constructability Challenges Conclusion & Next Steps 18 min Proposed Revenue-to-Revenue turn time using “Drop-back” crews. Introduction The Penn Station Capacity Improvements Project (PCIP) is an exploratory planning and conceptual engineering effort initiated by NJ TRANSIT to identify, develop, and evaluate near-term infrastructure and […]
The Lost Compact: How a Forgotten 1958 Plan Holds the Key to Penn Station’s Future
Lackawanna Coalition
Regional Plan Association accepted at least $850K from Amtrak as part of its Hudson Tunnel advocacy
Crain’s NY Business
Long-trusted nonprofit sells its independence to Amtrak, casting doubt on Penn Station views
New York Daily News
NJ Transit Is NYC’s Least Reliable Commuter Rail — By a Long Shot
Bloomberg CityLab
The 1963 Plan That Could Have Saved Penn Station
Buried on page 16C of the New York Sunday News from May 19, 1963—just months before Pennsylvania Station met its demise—sits an article with the headline: “Tunnel Under Park Ave. Urged to Link All Rail Lines.” The paper is yellowed now, the kind of artifact you’d find in a library’s microfilm collection if you knew […]
New York’s Office Market Could Win Big With Andy Byford
Commercial Observer
Andy Byford will lead Penn Station’s overhaul as Amtrak Board of Directors Special Advisor—what does it mean for the redesign?
The Architect’s Newspaper
Response to Eugene Sinigalliano’s “A Block 780 Resident Reacts to the FRA’s Recent Takeover at Penn Station”
Chelsea Community News
Trump Administration Takes Control of Penn Station Overhaul
Rail Passengers Association
The Failure of Metropolitan Coordination in the New York Tri-State Area
Henry Fagin, an official at the Regional Plan Association, once summed up the New York region’s planning apparatus as a centipede with a first-rate brain in each foot and a hole where the head should be (Oriol). He said it in the 1960s, and it still describes the region’s basic problem: broad agreement, among planners […]
Train to the Game: How Metro-North, Amtrak, and NJ Transit Built—and Killed—Regional Rail to the Meadowlands
Skip to article Dark mode Train to the Game · A Penn Station Case Study How the MTA, Amtrak, and NJ TRANSIT Built—and Failed to Sustain—Regional Rail to the Meadowlands The eight-year rise and fall of a train service that crossed Penn Station—and what it shows about plans to let commuter trains continue through the […]
The Center City Commuter Connection
Key Insights • The Infrastructure: A 1.7-mile, $330 million tunnel united the Pennsylvania and Reading railroad networks in 1984. • The Impact: Eliminated downtown transfers, saving 2,500 daily person-hours and enabling direct suburb-to-suburb travel. • The Unmet Potential: Despite physical capacity rivaling Munich’s S-Bahn, funding crises and operational choices have prevented true high-frequency metro service. […]