Amtrak Extends Another Olive Branch to MTA on Penn Station Rebuild Plan

The Amtrak executive in charge of rebuilding Penn Station appealed to the MTA “to work together more closely” as the project enters a critical phase of finalizing costs and details so construction can begin by the end of next year.

The executive, Andy Byford, pushed back on local elected officials who accused the Trump administration of icing the MTA after the feds took the project over from the state agency last year.

“It is disingenuous for some to continue to assert that MTA has been ‘frozen out,’ ‘sidelined,’ or “excluded’ by Amtrak,” Byford wrote in a letter to the MTA chair, Janno Lieber. “Rather, it has been MTA’s repeated choice over the past year to opt out of participating in the project despite” what Buford identified as six “express overtures from Amtrak.”

Lieber has long taken the position that the plan Amtrak is now pursuing–a plan first offered in 2023 when the MTA was still in charge–is more expensive and elaborate than necessary.

For example, it calls for paying the owner of Madison Square Garden, James Dolan, hundreds of millions of dollars (the exact amount has not been disclosed), to buy and demolish the Garden’s theatre along Eighth Avenue, making way for a grand entrance facing the Farley Post Office and Moynihan Train Hall.

When it was in charge, the MTA had floated a more modest design with entrances closer to seventh avenue, which, MTA officials argued, is where most passengers enter and leave from.

The MTA recently completed a renovation of the northern corridor of the station, used by the Long Island Railroad, an MTA subsidiary. The MTA says the improvement have been well received by customers.

But Byford noted that LIRR customers use the entire station and will do so “even more when this project is complete.” He noted the MTA was also building access for metro north customers from Westchester and Connecticut.

“Let’s be partners in more than just name only,” he appealed.

While Amtrak owns the station its largest users are commuter lines, the LIRR and New Jersey Transit. “To its credit, NJ TRANSIT recognized the criticality of being fully involved in Penn Station revitalizations and rose to the occasion,” Byford wrote to Lieber. “opting in to a partnership to ensure the Garden State is properly represented.”

Byford stressed that the agreement he is inviting the MTA to sign is the same as the one Amtrak signed when The MTA was in charge. He said the agreement would not “water down” the LIRR’s current lease, which the MTA says gives it the power to veto any development that interferes with its operations.

Byford said he recognized the MTA has supported the Station Working Advisory Group, an assemblage of stakeholders and elected officials, and attended project meetings. “But we need to work together more closely than that. That’s why my invitation to sign the MOA and become a full partner remains open.”

When the MTA was in charge, the state had said it would provide $1-billion for the renovation project. But when the Trump administration took over Gov. Kathy Hochul withdrew the money and said the costs where the President’s responsibility.

Amtrak said the transformation, as it calls the project, will cost between $7 and $8 billion, including the payments to Madison Square Garden. In an announcement that coincided with Byford’s letter to Lieber, Amtrak said it had formally signed a development agreement with Penn Transformation Partners, a private consortium led by Halmar, the American subsidiary of the Italian firm ASTM, and Skanska, the Swedish construction form.

Amtrak said they would now negotiate the details of the project with PTP, including its precise cost, construction and architectural details.

The project will be funded “primarily through federal funding, private financing, and equity raised by PTP,” Amtrak said, although Byford has also said he will be asking New York City and State and New Jersey to kick in, too.

“Byford has stated there will be no fare hikes or surcharges passed on to NJ TRANSIT, MTA, or Amtrak riders to pay for this project,” Amtrak reiterated.

Byford said he planned to have shovels in the ground before the end of next year no matter how the MTA decides to proceed.