Penn Collision: Amtrak/Feds on Different Track than MTA/LIRR

Amtrak and the Trump administration, powering forward on multi-billion dollar plans to rebuild Penn Station, appear to be on a collision course with the station’s largest user, the MTA and its Long Island Railroad, who say they have already done what is needed, at least for their part of the infamously cramped and crowded station.

“Actually, the MTA has already completed major renovation at Penn Station,” said the MTA’s Chief of Policy and External Relations, John J. McCarthy. “It was a transparent process, on schedule, on budget — looks great and customers are happy.”

Behind the scenes, the chair of the MTA, Janno Lieber, has been saying that as a tenant of the station, which is owned by Amtrak, he has the power to weigh in against any further renovation, putting one of the city’s most discussed redevelopment projects on more-or-less the plane of a landlord-tenant dispute.

The MTA and the Hochul administration have been at odds with the Trump administration on several transportation fronts, including the congestion tolls imposed on motorists entering central Manhattan and the funding of both the extension of the second avenue subway and the construction of the Gateway rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

Increasingly, that strain has become apparent in the Penn Station project, as well.

Last April, the Trump administration took control of the reconstruction project from the MTA and appointed Andy Byford, a former New York Transit Authority chief, to oversee the project.

Byford announced in January that New Jersey Transit had agreed to be a full partner in the reconstruction project, but that the MTA had declined.

Still, Byford minimized the stress, saying he was sure any differences could be worked through.

Then this week those differences were laid bare when the Federal Transportation Department, which oversees Amtrak, issued an announcement it was moving forward on selecting a Master Developer to be Amtrak’s private partner in the rebuilding.

“We are moving at the Speed of Trump to break ground on the new and improved New York Penn Station next year,” said the Transportation Secretary, Sean P. Duffy. “I’m fortunate to have Andy Byford as a partner in revitalization to bring this project to life. We’d never have as smooth or transparent of a process under New York’s MTA.”

That shot prompted the response from the MTA’s McCarthy, who issued his statement along with the results of surveys which showed, a spokesman explained, “that the percentage of LIRR riders who expressed that they were satisfied with Penn Station jumped following the completion of the LIRR Concourse reconstruction in the Spring of 2023.”

According to the surveys, in the spring of 2022, before the new concourse, only half of riders expressed satisfaction with Penn Station, a proportion which increased to 83 percent by last fall after the new concourse was completed.

Improving the concourse is only part of what is at stake in the larger reconstruction project.

Both Amtrak and the LIRR have improved concourses–Amtrak’s is the much-praised Moynihan Train Hall across Eighth Avenue. But New Jersey Transit riders continue to suffer in cramped spaces that are particularly unpleasant during the not infrequent delays the commuter line experiences.

NJTransit has long said it wants more space to increase service from New Jersey into the city. That question, which had been separate from reconstructing the terminal, was consolidated under Byford when The Trump administration kicked the MTA off supervising the reconstruction.

The Federal Railroad Administration is studying how best to optimize service in and out of Penn Station, which will then shape a decision on whether service can be expanded within the station’s present footprint.

That in turn connects to the seemingly never-ending debate over whether to move Madison Square Garden, which has sat atop the station, held up by some 300 columns driven through the platforms and tracks, since the financially spiraling Pennsylvania Railroad tore down its McKim, Mead and White Station and sold the right to build on top of it.

Three development consortiums have been selected as finalists for the Penn Station project and Duffy and Byford said that “Amtrak has met with each prospective Master Developer to discuss their design proposals.”

An Amtrak spokesman later clarified that Byford himself did not attend these meetings because he will be part of judging the formal submissions in May.

The exact nature of those proposals is not known.

One group, the Grand Penn Partners, went into the competition with a plan to move the Garden and build a park above an improved station. The group includes several backers of President Trump, and his efforts to revive classical architecture, and they have lobbied the President for his support (and his help in getting the Garden to move).

A second competitor, Penn Transformation Partners, led by Halmar, the US subsidiary of the Italian developer ASTM, had proposed to leave the Garden in place put tear down its adjacent theater on Eighth Avenue to build a large train hall.

The third competitor, Penn Forward Now, led by the Toronto based Fengate, has said nothing publicly about its plans, although they apparently do not propose moving The Garden.

Amtrak says the three contenders must submit their plans on May 4 and a winner will be announced in June. The overall goal, Amtrak says, is “to completely transform Penn Station, improving safety and operational efficiency, making the system more family friendly, accommodating increased train and passenger capacity, and delivering a world-class experience to its growing passenger base.”

One of the MTAs critiques of the ambitious rebuilding plans is the potential total cost, which if not covered in other ways, like revenue from new commercial leases in the station or development around it, would end up being paid by transit riders or taxpayers.

Lieber, for example, has opposed the idea of buying the theater at Madison Square Garden from its owner, James Dolan, as a needless expense.

Byford has repeatedly said he is cognizant of the need to hold down the overall cost, although he can’t yet say what that cost is until all three proposals are studied.

Under the Public Private Partnership, the private developer would help finance the project and then recoup its investment through later fees or revenues. The new LaGuardia Airport was built under such an agreement, for example.

Given the complexity of the project, involving not just the station and regional rail service, but the surrounding neighborhood and potential development plans, various elected officials, stakeholders and organizations have called for more information to be released about the three contenders, their proposals and Amtrak’s requirements.

“Amtrak has been engaging with key stakeholders and organizations regarding the Project for months,” a spokesman said, adding that the railroad “plans to increase public engagement activities once the Master Developer is selected and design work is underway” in June.

Indeed, the Amtrak announcement noted that one public process, an environmental review, begins after the public announcement. Under federal law, that review includes public hearings and reaction.