NEW YORK — Natural lighting, more space, and a dramatically enhanced Metropolitan Lounge for premium Amtrak are highlights of New York’s Moynihan Train Hall, the facility connected to Penn Station slated to open early in 2021.
Amtrak officials provided a preview to Trains News Wire of the interiors of the train hall, which will be used by Amtrak and some Long Island Rail Road passengers.
Moynihan Train Hall is part of the Farley Post Office Building, a landmark structure across 8th Avenue from Penn Station. The structure, part of the original Penn Station complex, was designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White and opened in 1914, expanding to a full city block 20 years later. Externally, the building will have only a few minor changes. The U.S. Postal Service will retain a presence in the structure, using a large part of the 1934 addition, third-floor office space in the original structure, and maintaining its historic lobby facing 8th Avenue.
The rest of the building, however, will become a showcase for a classic yet contemporary design with significantly enhanced passenger facilities. Already complete is the West End Concourse, which opened last September, providing improved access to platforms on Penn Station’s west side.
Phase II of the 255,000-square-foot project, will include a significantly larger boarding concourse with natural light from 92-foot-high skylights, as well as combined ticketing and baggage facilities. The new 10,000-square-foot Metropolitan Lounge will also feature windows, unlike the current subterranean space in Penn Station, as well as dedicated customer service agents, priority boarding, a family area, and seating and tables with access to electrical outlets and USB ports. The lounge, with a capacity of 300, will also feature a 20-foot-high balcony overlooking the Train Hall plaza.
There will be dedicated customer waiting areas with private restrooms, lactation lounges, and complimentary wi-fi in all customer spaces. New retail space will include stores and dining outlets. The building will be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The train hall’s main entrance will be on West 31st Street between 8th and 9th avenues, rather than the 8th avenue building front. Fewer commuters will share the entrance space, and an open plaza will mean less congestion walking to and from train platforms. There will also be a passenger business center with small conference rooms.
The project has partnered Amtrak with the New York State Empire State Development Corporation. NJ Transit, a significant part of the traffic at the current Penn Station, is not a financial participant in the new Moynihan Train Hall and will have no presence there.
More information on the new facility is available here.
While this sounds absolutely splendid, this is one reason why passenger trains depend so heavily on government funding. (And yes, other transportation modes do as well, but passenger trains seem to be the only mode that is continually targeted for budget cuts.) I suggest a different model is in order when it comes to operating passenger trains. It won’t work too well for long distance trains, but for regional, corridor, commuter and urban (subway, light rail, etc.) trains that have for the most part dedicated lines that they operate on, combined with an enhanced PTC that can operate trains at ultra high frequencies and extremely short headways, I would suggest operating far more trains that are shorter, and mainly only go from one (or a clustered few) starting points to one (or a clustered few) destination points, with the line haul portion of their run operating as primarily or entirely non-stop. This would eliminate the need for massive stations with long platforms, large waiting areas, and so forth, reducing construction costs as well as maintenance.It would also considerably reduce trip times both by reducing the length of time a transit vehicle is in transit and reducing wait times at origin stations.
If the link doesn’t work, remove the period at the end of the URL after “hall” and try again.
Try this website: https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/MoynihanTrainHallRenderings.pdf
Fine and dandy to have a nice station, good thought. However I wish they could put the same or less amount of $$ to keep up the existing national network, work with a “few” states that don’t want to contribute more $$, and letting the private car/train/excursion, go back to what it used to be…or better
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Is this because the oreview Trains News Wire got is not up yet?
“Amtrak officials provided a preview to Trains News Wire “
Now, if they could just figure out how to operate comfortable, clean and on-time trains they might have something. Also, how about figuring out how to remove the homeless population. Back in October I was in NYC for a few days and I made a detour through the new west end concourse and I was panhandled more than once, twice by the same guy, while his buddies were on break sleeping in the nooks and crannies. Other than that it was very attractive.
Noticable is the lack of improvement to the boarding platforms, adjacent to and below the strangulating Mad. Sq. Garden above. Basically, the rat warren will remain until the unlikely event MSG is destroyed.