Amtrak Says ‘No Final Decisions’ on Penn Station Before Public Weighs In

Amtrak, facing increasing pressure for more transparency in its rebuilding of Penn Station, pledged that “no final decisions” will be made on the design of a new station or its financing until after “robust public engagement” beginning this summer.

The pledge, from Andy Byford, who is directing the Penn Station project for Amtrak, appeared to be an effort to ease the increasing restlessness among elected officials, community activists and transit advocates who worry Amtrak is proceeding behind closed doors to select a private partner for the multi-billion-dollar work.

In a letter released by Amtrak, Byford rejected a demand from five Manhattan elected officials that he share the document, known as the request for proposal, that is shaping the selection of that private partner, to be called the Master Developer.

He told the elected officials that the Master Developer selection, scheduled for June, was not the end of the process but just the beginning.

After the Master Developer is selected from among the three finalists, Byford explained, Amtrak will sign what he called a “pre-development agreement.”

“This PDA agreement will cover the period from summer 2026 through 2027, during which robust public engagement, design development, financial plan development and environmental review activities will take place,” Byford explained. “Before this PDA phase no final decisions on station design or project financing will be made.”

Federal officials, saying they are working at “the speed of Trump,” have promised “shovels in the ground” on what they call the Penn Transformation Project by the end of 2027.

Three major development consortiums are competing to be the Master developer, a private partner with Amtrak on what is one of the largest and most significant redevelopment projects in the city’s modern history.

The redevelopment will affect not just the station itself, but the buildings on top of it, the neighborhood around it and the 600,000 passengers who pass through it each day.

That is why the five elected officials said they wanted more information about the process for selecting the Master Developer.

Byford said no.

“Amtrak believes that its approach to disclosure taken to date of not releasing the Project’s RFP procurement documents while the procurement is ongoing best supports the integrity of the procurement process, while ensuring a fair and level playing field for all proposers,” Byford replied.

Byford stressed that the RFP was actually “iterative,” based on feedback from the bidders, and that the final version would not be in place until the selection process was completed.

“For this reason, Amtrak believes that the release of the RFP procurement documentation today would be premature. Since January, as contemplated by the procurement’s rules, the Shortlisted Teams have submitted questions and suggested changes and Amtrak has released to the Shortlisted Teams addenda amending (or not amending) the RFP based on Amtrak’s responses to those questions and comments. This iterative process is still underway.”

After the winner is selected, Byford wrote, “Amtrak does intend to publish a summary of the procurement process.” This will include the participating teams and an overview of their proposals that they prepare for the public, he said.