Still missing from the Phase One $300 million Penn Station West End Concourse June opening was a seating area and rest rooms. (Was someone afraid of the homeless invading this new facility?)

There are only three new ticket vending machines which do not accept cash. 

There are a number of significant issues missing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Phase Two $1.6 billion Penn Station Amtrak Moynihan Train Hall Project.

Besides 260,000 daily Long Island Rail Road riders, there are almost 100,000 New Jersey Transit commuters who also use Penn Station.  

Partial financing comes from a federal $550 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act  loan.  The loan is to be paid back by revenues generated from private sector investments with shortfalls covered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 

The Empire State Development Corporation is counting on the sale of air rights over the Farley Building as the source for its $570 million contribution.  Suppose the sale generates less than anticipated. How would they make up the shortfall?

What was the $1.6 billion cost estimate based on? 

There is no detailed project schedule or budget shared with the public to justify the promised December 2020 completion date. The project still fails to add any new track or platform capacity for Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, LIRR or future Metro North Rail Road service.

These improvements are necessary to accommodate thousands of new riders and run additional trains during peak a.m. and p.m. rush hours.  

Creation of the new Moynihan Train Station, ticket office and renovated platforms below the Farley Building between 8th and 9th Avenue sounds great on paper. 

More LIRR riders continue to purchase tickets via Mail & Ride, ticket vending machines or various Apps.  Last month, the MTA awarded a contract for $573 million to Cubic Transportation Systems to replace the Metro Card.  In coming years, new fare collection technology will be coming on line for both subway and commuter rail riders.  

As a result, the concept of staffed ticket windows and offices may go the way of the dinosaurs.  It will only benefit a minority of LIRR riders whose destinations are west of 8th Avenue or utilize the 8th Avenue A, C and E subways.  

An overwhelming majority of riders exit to destinations east of 7th Avenue.  This includes using the 1 ,2 & 3 subways (some transferring at Times Square for either the shuttle or #7 subway to access Grand Central Terminal) or walking to Herald Square (to access the B, D. F, N, R, Q & W subway lines or PATH).  

LIRR trains arriving and departing from platform space farther west in  Penn Station will result in longer walks for a majority of riders coming east of 7th Avenue.  Many would argue that this is a waste of several hundred million dollars.  

Most LIRR riders would prefer that these monies be spent on basic track, interlockings, power and signal maintenance at Penn Station rather than a new ticket office and waiting area.  

Better track, interlockings, power and signal maintenance scheduled on a more frequent regular basis might help avoid the increasing number of train delays and cancellations. LIRR riders would tell you that it is clearly a higher priority than any new Penn Station ticket office and waiting room.

Cuomo is probably unaware of the original $200 million dollar Penn Station Improvement project in the early 1990s.  Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation Urban Mass Transportation Administration (today’s Federal Transit Administration).  

These funds were used to upgrade the 7th Avenue ticket office, open a new entrance on 34th Street just west of 7th Avenue and renovate the main concourse connecting 7th & 8th Avenue. Work was completed in 1994.  

All FTA capital improvements have a useful life requirement contained in the master grant agreements with the MTA.  Failure to do so, could result in FTA requesting reimbursement by the MTA based upon straight line depreciation for the remaining value which was never achieved.  Cuomo proposes widening the corridor from 25 to 75 feet plus raising the ceiling from 16 to 18 feet.  

Sounds great, but remember that the useful life for similar prior investments to both the corridor and ceiling went into beneficial use in 1994.  They would only be 26 years old in 2020.  The MTA could be on the hook for reimbursing FTA millions.  

Also missing is a key low cost option that could benefit tens of thousands of riders.  

Until the 1970s, both LIRR and NJ Transit riders exiting east at Penn Station had a direct underground passageway known as the Hilton Corridor. It was also known as the Gimbel’s passageway. 

This provided a simple indoor connection to the 34th Street Herald Square subway and PATH station complex. 

It could be rebuilt in several years for $150 million versus $10.8 billion (perhaps up to $12 billion based upon the amended Federal Transit Administration Full Funding Grant Agreement with the MTA) for MTA LIRR Eastside Access to Grand Central Terminal. Reopening this passageway would provide improved access to midtown east several years prior to MTA LIRR Eastside Access.

Current project schedule calls for service to begin in December 2023 (new FFGA date). Don’t be surprised when MTA announces yet another round of delays and new recovery schedule. This could result in LIRR service to Grand Central Terminal starting in 2024.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

(Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the US Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office)