Statement attributable to Tom Wright, President and CEO of Regional Plan Association
The FRA’s Phase I Penn Station Service Optimization Study provides important analysis and ideas about how to increase capacity and reduce delays at NY Penn Station.
The study reinforces a key principle: we should always maximize the performance of existing infrastructure before expanding or building new systems. By identifying opportunities to improve train movements, reduce platform dwell times, and increase throughput within Penn Station’s existing footprint, the FRA has advanced an important conversation about how the transformation of Penn Station can better serve a growing and connected region. RPA supports these efforts and encourages the FRA, Amtrak, MTA, and NJ TRANSIT to continue this work through a transparent process that publicly documents the assumptions, methodologies, and tradeoffs that underlie these recommendations.
The next phase of this study, which will examine broader regional operations, future service patterns, and long-term capacity needs, will be essential to determining what additional infrastructure investments are required beyond the improvements identified here. As the report makes clear, the Gateway tunnels and associated improvements will deliver capacity for 24 additional trains per hour (tph) into Penn Station. This study concludes that as many as 8 trains per hour can be added to the existing Penn Station. If that is the case, these proposed improvements would still leave the region 16 tph short of utilizing the full capacity delivered by Gateway.
Gateway and the transformation of Penn Station provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix historic mistakes and build a regional transit system for the next 100 years. We are excited to see these plans continue to move forward.
