Recap from RPA and MAS Penn Station Forum

On August 5th, 2024, Regional Plan Association (RPA) and the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) hosted a public conversation with representatives from Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT and the MTA to discuss obstacles and opportunities for increasing the capacity of New York Penn Station. The panel was moderated by Elizabeth Goldstein of MAS and Tom Wright of RPA, and included Petra Messick from Amtrak, Foster Nichols from WSP, Sean Fitzpatrick from the MTA and Jeremy Colangelo-Bryan from NJ TRANSIT.

The purpose of the forum was to start a public conversation about the future of Penn Station – one that includes civic organizations, residents of New York City and the surrounding region, the railroad operators, elected officials and the broader community. A particular focus of the discussion was the challenges associated with converting Penn Station into a full through-running operation. An audience Q&A followed the presentation and panel discussion.

Working together, the railroads retained WSP, a consulting firm with international experience in rail network planning and train operations, to investigate whether it would be possible to increase station capacity to meet the Gateway Program’s goal of doubling trans-Hudson capacity without expanding the footprint of the existing station. During the forum, analyses of through-running proposals by ReThinkNYC and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign were presented and then discussed by the expert panel.

Following the event, RPA and MAS reflected on the forum and put together a recap piece. The recap provides a summary of the August 5th presentations and conclusions, and the discussion with audience members that followed. Read the full piece >