Posted on 05/04/2026 5:49:47 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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.
Most of the attention to Trump’s redevelopment of the nation’s busiest train station has focused on converting its labyrinthine layout into an architectural marvel filled with natural light. One plan under consideration would move Madison Square Garden across the street. But the much-needed aesthetic improvements to Penn have arguably distracted from a more pressing problem: In the coming decade, Penn Station is going to run out of room.
The $16 billion Gateway project that’s constructing two new rail tunnels between New York and New Jersey is slated to wrap in 2035, doubling the number of trains that could move between the two states each hour from 24 to 48. Metro-North trains will also begin arriving at the station in 2030, when the MTA expects to finish its Penn Access project.
(Excerpt) Read more at gothamist.com ...
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NYC is finished.
I hadn’t taken a train out of Penn Station for decades till a couple of summers ago when a hurricane (I forget which) disrupted flights out of NYC for days. Amtrak is no Orient Express, but the Moynihan Train Hall is magnificent.
Oh...*that* Penn Station...
Metro-North trains will also begin arriving at the station in 2030, when the MTA expects to finish its Penn Access project …That is not going to happen. No room at Penn, ever since NJ Transit started jamming trains in there that used to go to Hoboken Terminal. Not to mention that the MTA has not funded the project anyhow, most of which has to be built on Amtrak-owned rails between New Rochelle and Penn Station.
If the Elizabeth Line could dig a 22 mile tunnel under London we can tunnel from Penn Station to Grand Central
That was one of the proposals under an old project called “Access to the Region’s Core”. Grand Central is the largest station in the world by number of tracks, on two levels; if it became a through station, then a number of NJ Transit and Amtrack trains could run to/from the lower level. There is the matter of disparate electrification systems, though, since Amtrak and NJ Transit run on high-voltage overhead wires and Long Island RR and Metro-North each have their own differing types of third rail.
Would have been far better if this passenger rail service had stayed in the private sector, either way.
No. The rock is all wrong there. Experts can chime in
It’s the reason London can’t have a super tall building but Manhattan can
Putting lipstick on a pig.
In other news, Newsom reported no progress on the high speed super railway in his state.
Bring back Beauty in architecture. It’s good for the soul.
(Not one more Obama library monstrosity)
NY City?
Wasn’t that an important city one time long ago before the democrats took over?
Rail is so outmoded.
See California.
See so many empty office skyscrapers around the USA.
How does the Acela not run THROUGH NYC?
Hmm? I wasn’t talking about Acela specifically. That does what Amtrak has done since 1971 pretty much, i.e. run from the former Pennsylvania RR main line right through Penn Station, on to the former New York Connecting Railroad (aka the High Line) and on to the former New Haven RR main line. Only difference is that it runs on electric power north of New Haven, whereas trains before it had to switch between electric and diesel locomotives (before 2000).
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