Empire Station Complex, aka New York Pennsylvania Station

I'm not sure how you can make the platforms wider. Where are the tracks going to go?

lensovet wrote:I'm not sure how you can make the platforms wider. Where are the tracks going to go?

They can start by clearing the existing platforms of all the pillars and anything other than staircases, escalators and elevators.

I guess if the whole thing falls down on the tracks that would let a lot of light in

Tom V wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2023 7:14 pm

lensovet wrote:I'm not sure how you can make the platforms wider. Where are the tracks going to go?

They can start by clearing the existing platforms of all the pillars and anything other than staircases, escalators and elevators.

You do realize those pillars are what is keeping the entire station and Madison Square Garden overhead from falling down, right?

lensovet wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2023 10:56 am I'm not sure how you can make the platforms wider. Where are the tracks going to go?

There's been a suggestion that the platforms can be widened by eliminating some of the tracks -- the only way they can be widened -- but that seems to be substituting one problem for another. The bag will hold only so many pounds.

lensovet wrote: ↑Fri Dec 15, 2023 10:56 am I'm not sure how you can make the platforms wider. Where are the tracks going to go?

Impossible unles MSG is demolished to remove the support columns.

The LIRR concourse was renovated to remove low hanging beams. Surely modern engineering can find a solution to make supporting columns smaller and/or fewer in number without compromising the integrity of the building even while not interrupting occupancy and use.

You can increase the span of the beams, reducing the number/volume of columns . You can't make the columns narrower. You don't want to rely on magic high-strength steel, this stuff has to last a very long time.

Is there a way to have two layers of tracks? That or expanding the footprint of Penn Station tracks seems to be the only way to increase capacity. Maybe there is a need for a couple of bypass tracks, for trains not stopping at Penn - not every trip starts or stops in Manhattan anymore.

The original cavern station that was part of ARC was in a way a second layer of tracks as it was designed to be below Penn.

Can’t imagine which services going through Penn would benefit dropping it as a stop. Literally the highest number of boardings on the entire corridor.