The long-delayed project is slated to renovate and modernize the station; increase concourse capacity and access; enable safer and more efficient operations; accommodate passenger service growth; and deliver what USDOT said will be a “world-class experience” for users. In Fiscal Year 2024, PSNY welcomed more than 12 million people—nearly 18% of total Amtrak ridership and nearly 45% of Northeast Corridor ridership. It supports more than 1,000 daily train movements among Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and MTA Long Island Rail Road across 21 tracks.
In partnership with Amtrak, USDOT reported releasing the solicitation for the project’s master developer, inviting interested parties to submit their Letters of Interest through Amtrak’s Procurement Portal; selecting Public-Private Partnership (P3) advisors Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP (legal) and KPMG (financial) and environmental consultant AKRF to help structure the project approach and agreements; and initiating the project’s Service Optimization Study to explore ways to accommodate passenger service growth at PSNY and the surrounding region.
“The advisors will help transform the busiest train station in the Western Hemisphere into a world-class transit hub, elevating the experience for Americans and visitors alike,” USDOT said. “They will also support in shaping a P3 strategy to attract private investment, streamline approvals, and evaluate innovative solutions. By identifying funding opportunities, maximizing revenue potential, and proactively managing risks, the advisors will help ensure this critical infrastructure project stays on schedule [and] under budget.”
“This will be one of the biggest and most significant construction projects in U.S. history, and we want the most skilled and knowledgeable partners to help make it a success,” said Special Advisor to the Amtrak Board Andy Byford, who discussed the project at the recently concluded Next-Gen Rail Systems conference, the communications, signaling and advanced technology conference presented by Railway Age in Jersey City, N.J. “By working with the private sector, we will be working with advisors who focus on the project’s goals while minimizing costs for taxpayers.”
In April, USDOT announced that it, along with Amtrak, would take control of the Penn Station overhaul from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which had estimated the project cost at $7 billion; as part of that announcement, USDOT withdrew $72 million in grant funding. In August, USDOT and Amtrak announced the project’s schedule and a $43 million federal grant to jumpstart the work, supporting project development and the solicitation of a master developer, as well as permitting and preliminary engineering work.
Meanwhile, the $2.9 billion Penn Station Access Project launch will be delayed until 2030 at the earliest, according to media reports.
The project is slated to extend MTA Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line to Penn Station, creating four new accessible stations in the Bronx, improving existing tracks and bridges, and cutting travel times from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes.
“The MTA commissioned an independent review that put the blame for the delay squarely on Amtrak,” Spectrum News NY1 reported Oct. 27. “‘It started with being unable to take tracks out of service, outages,’ said Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA Construction and Development [in a presentation to the MTA Capital Plan Committee]. ‘We weren’t getting those. Then they were able to start giving us… those some of those outages. But their support staff, who need to oversee the work happening, didn’t show up. And so the outages were wasted.’ According to the contract, Amtrak was to provide a minimum of 30 service outages a year. The MTA says there were only seven in the first two years. And while Amtrak is improving, it’s too late.”
Amtrak in a Oct. 28 statement said: “Amtrak has invested over $140 million and significant staff resources on the Penn Station Access (PSA) project. We remain committed to this critical project, and being good stewards of taxpayer investment for Amtrak, MTA customers, New York residents, and travelers. Specific to minimizing delays and expediting the project’s completion, Amtrak is collaborating with the MTA on numerous mitigation strategies, including:
“• Providing more 55-hr outages as well as three long-term track outages, covering both weekdays and weekends, to give the MTA’s contractor additional time to be more efficient to perform work without having to clear the track for train operations;
“• Expanding the Amtrak workforce to provide 190% of the committed amount to provide protection where needed;
“• Changing Amtrak rules for worker protection to allow more work to be done for the MTA and its contractor;
“• Modifying and lengthening schedules of, and in some cases temporarily suspending Amtrak trains to allow more work to be done safely; and
“• Taking over a portion of the work that was originally to have been performed by the MTA’s contractor.
“In addition, MTA did not make Amtrak aware of the ‘Independent Review Consultant’ nor involve us in their analysis.”
