Penn Station Shutdown Plans

[transit383]

I just saw on the news that NY Penn Station may be shut down completely during the Republican National Convention this summer at Madison Square Garden. This comes as a result of the train bombings in Madrid. There was no definite length of how long it may be closed for, but most likely the entire length of the convetion. NY Police Commisioner Kelly said that he will do his best to keep the station open, with increased security for the station.

If NYP does indeed close, will Secaucus serve as a terminal station?

[DutchRailnut]

one thing is for sure , they shut Penn Station and we don't have to worry about cheds in Florida, between LIRR Amtrak and NJT there will be enough republicans just voting democrat to get even.
If the Shrub wants to stay in office maybe the secret service should reconsider

[drewh]

There's a whole thread over on Amtrak forum about it.

[drewh]

one thing is for sure , they shut Penn Station and we don't have to worry about cheds in Florida, between LIRR Amtrak and NJT there will be enough republicans just voting democrat to get even.
If the Shrub wants to stay in office maybe the secret service should reconsider

I think NJ/NY are going Dem anyway so Rep votes don't matter at all. Now maybe if we shut down the interstate system through the midwest because the president is in the country - then we may have a chance!! Or the airspace over the country when AF1 is in the air.

[trainfreak]

From my point of view it would be incredibly pointless to close down the whole station for the convention. I just say beef up security on trains and in stations and let things run they way they are suppose to run.

[NJTRailfan]

Shutting down NYP!?! Are they nuts!?!?!

All NYC has to do is shut down the airspace above NYC and the surrounding rivers and add F-18s i nthe skies alogn with increased NYPD, National Guard, FBI and Secret Servcie esp in plain cloithes all over the place.

Shutting down NYP will be alot mroe chaotic then when the PAth tubes downtown were otu of service. Even if the transit hub at the WTC site was up and running 100% and people could switch trains or use Hoboken Terminal, NY Waterway and PATH the congestion woudl be too much.

Had NYP was orignally built with a 2 track connction to GCT then maybe there could be a chance with trains bypassing NYP and going to GCT.

[Irish Chieftain]

I see that the Republicans want to do the Democrats one step better at shutting down railroad terminals—which is ridiculous, but certainly warns against putting places like MSG and Fleet Center right on top of your terminal (the Dems shut down North Station in Boston for their convention IIRC; they were talking about that in the MBTA forum).

Whoops...now if the Acela Express had steps and trapdoors, it could be diverted into Hoboken Terminal from the south (other Amtrak trains can still go in there); and if it had third-rail contact shoes, it could have been diverted into GCT from the north (no other Amtrak electric motor is so equipped either). And a whoopsie on NJT's part insofar as not rebuilding the Arrow IIIs with the automatic transformer-tap changing capability...(or should we blame that on Amtrak not getting the money to convert the former PRR to 25kV 60Hz?)

And what about the LIRR...? They don't even have enough space at LIC to send trains there, not to mention the ESA is not done plus there are no third-rail contact shoes at the new LIC platforms that were built. Sticky situation...

[Jtgshu]

You know what....I saw shut the damn station down completely for the entire duration of the convention....

THAT will show the necessity of Amtrak and commuter railroads and railroads in general to the morons who run this country, and that railroads aren't "an alternative" form of transportation, as many of the leaders in this country think it is.....but rather an ESSENTIAL form of transportation, which requires decent and fair subsidies for operations........

[transit383]

The details of this plan are still a bit sketchy, but let's assume that no trains at all will be allowed to even pass through the station. That means that all Amtrak and NJT NEC operations will be cut between Secaucus and NYP. Secaucus will most likely serve as the terminal station for the trains (I really don't see Amtrak running into Hoboken) and buses used to transport passengers into the city. Does Secaucus have the capability to serve as a terminal for the duration of the convention? The terminal will either Secaucus or Newark Penn, but its pointless to have Secaucus suffer from this as well.

[nick11a]

The details of this plan are still a bit sketchy, but let's assume that no trains at all will be allowed to even pass through the station. That means that all Amtrak and NJT NEC operations will be cut between Secaucus and NYP. Secaucus will most likely serve as the terminal station for the trains (I really don't see Amtrak running into Hoboken) and buses used to transport passengers into the city. Does Secaucus have the capability to serve as a terminal for the duration of the convention? The terminal will either Secaucus or Newark Penn, but its pointless to have Secaucus suffer from this as well.

Well, if this happens, I say try to have ALL or as many NJT trains as they can terminate in Hoboken (with the exception of the RVL trains. They can terminate at NWK). Secaucus doesn't have the capacity to act as a terminal for NJT and Amtrak in my opinion. Maybe then just Amtrak trains could just terminate in either NWK PN, Secaucus or both.

[Idiot Railfan]

PROOF!!! PROOF!!! that Republicans don't like mass transit!!!!

[nick11a]

When would this occur? On a weekend I hope!

btw, when I first saw this thread's title, I thought it was an April Fools day joke.

[Jtgshu]

The thing is, there are lots of NJT crews that are not currently qualified into Hoboken from the NEC, so that is going to put a limit on the trians that can go there, unless they some how have relay crews or somehting

As for SEC, the interchange is not completed yet, so how are the busses going to make their way from SEC to the turnpike - thorugh the local roads (im not familiar wiht the roads up there at all) but busses really aren't a viable alternative - not with multiple trainloads of people.

I would say Newark Penn and Hoboken, and put people on to the PATH

[nick11a]

The thing is, there are lots of NJT crews that are not currently qualified into Hoboken from the NEC, so that is going to put a limit on the trians that can go there, unless they some how have relay crews or somehting
I would say Newark Penn and Hoboken, and put people on to the PATH

Oh, well then. This is going to be a real mess if they do shut down NY Penn.

[Greg]

I just heard an excerpt from an interview with Mayor Bloomberg and he said that there were no plans to shut NYP for the entire convention. He said the most he expected was for a possible cessation of service when the President spoke onstage at MSG.