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For the longest time, traveling through Penn Station's dark, low-ceilinged halls and crowded labyrinth-like layout has been a necessary evil for those taking the LIRR and Amtrak trains.
But in the very near future, it will be a "world-class facility the Empire State deserves," according to Governor Andrew Cuomo. In his State of the State Address, Cuomo announced that Penn Station would undergo a massive $16 billion project to expand its train capacity by 40 percent with at least eight more underground tracks to cut down on delays and improve operations for the more than 600,000 passengers who pass through every day.
The state plans on using property south of the station to make room for all these new tracks and add two new Gateway tunnels to bring more trains across the Hudson and renovate two existing Gateway tunnels—for a total of four train tunnels from New Jersey and beyond.
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The governor released three renderings of the updated station:
The project is expected to create 60,000 jobs, the state said.
The reconstruction is part of a $51 billion plan to redevelop midtown west that also includes rebuilding the Port Authority Bus Terminal, extending the High Line to the new Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station (which opened on January 1), adding 1,400 units of affordable housing to the area, transforming Pier 76 from an NYPD car tow pound to a 5.6-acre expansion of Hudson River Park and expanding the Javits Center.
The state will also explore buying up the Madison Square Garden Theater so it could open Penn and create a new block-long grand entrance at Eighth Avenue.
Governor Cuomo says the project will support a stronger economy after decades of "idle talk without any real action."
"We've built more than any state in the nation, and now we are taking another big step to address one of the weakest links in our transit system," Governor Cuomo said. "This expansion in the block south of Penn — combined with the soon-to-be-completed Moynihan Train Hall and the transformation of the existing Penn facility — will create an interconnected, world-class Empire Station Complex that will expand capacity by 40 percent. This will improve how more than half a million New Yorkers commute, travel and work every day while transforming Penn into the world-class facility the Empire State deserves."
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