Amtrak/LIRR Moynihan Train Hall

The Moynihan project has been under planning, design and engineering for years. At one point NJ Transit was to be the main tenant, the loss of leadership and the neglect at the agency during the Christie administration meant they were sidelined from the project and New York pounced.

Say what you will about Cuomo, but New York has been on a building spree. New Jersey hasn't done big infrastructure in a long time.

Tom V wrote:Say what you will about Cuomo, but New York has been on a building spree. New Jersey hasn't done big infrastructure in a long time.

NJ is broke and can hardly afford to maintain what they have already got.

LIRR is also the wrong tenant for Moynihan as the station sits on the west side while LIRR trains come from the east. Maximization of train throughput would have put NJT in Moynihan (with one LIRR and one NJT train turning on the same long platform and track at the same time), but of course Moynihan is a shiny mall that Cuomo wants to be able to point to for election purposes, capacity increase be damned.

No surprise there. All the PR releases talked about was grandeur with no mention of function.

Just because Moynihan isn't marked as NJT, doesn't mean you can't wait for your train there...….

Moyhnihan will be primarily an Amtrak space, easing the masses out of the cramp existing Penn upper concourse. Which will then free it up for the commuter crowds.

Theoretically anyone can access any of the tracks that Moyhnihan will have stairs to, regardless of railroad - but I think officially only Amtrak and LIRR will have departure boards. As is the case with the WEC, there will be no NJT boards.

Tracks 1-4 won't have staircases, but when the track is posted, you could easily walk to those tracks, if necessary. Use Departurevision.

The point is not about accessing the tracks from Moynihan or the WEC. The point is that on the two longest platforms you can stop two trains on each track for 4 trains per platform. This will be especially relevant once most NYP bound LIRR trains lose 2 cars due to the opening of ESA. While you could stop two LIRR trains that way, they both need to go back to LI to the east. If you stopped one from the east (LIRR) and one from the west (NJT) they could both leave at the same time. That increases the platform utilization substantially with minimal passenger confusion. Of course, signals and operating procedures will need to be modified, but it is vastly cheaper than Penn South. Two trains per track per platform (on the long platforms) is done even now, typically with an NJT train and an Acela or Keystone, but only in "emergencies" when something has gone wrong and they need to keep the trains moving. Why does this matter? Because with the new Hudson Tunnels you will eventually get more capacity into NYP, but you will not be able to add more trains from the west because NYP will the the choke point then, not the tunnels as it is now.

Except no LIRR trains will be shortened after ESA opens.

SecaucusJunction wrote:Tracks 1-4 won't have staircases, but when the track is posted, you could easily walk to those tracks, if necessary. Use Departurevision.

Accessing tracks 1-4 is not that easy - one needs to go down track 5/6, walk east to the first exit concourse stairway, then go up, and then over and back down. Doable but not convenient.

There are plans to create access to tracks 1-4 but they require some significant modifications in the area. If the Penn South project ever happened, those platforms would be lengthened, making it even easier to connect. But because WEC is not marketed as NJT access, I don't see tracks 1-4 being connected anytime soon.

To my great surprise some of the screens in the West End Concourse have been modified to show NJT departures. It is a minor thing, but certainly a move in the right direction.

EuroStar wrote:To my great surprise some of the screens in the West End Concourse have been modified to show NJT departures. It is a minor thing, but certainly a move in the right direction.

This is good news!

EuroStar wrote:To my great surprise some of the screens in the West End Concourse have been modified to show NJT departures. It is a minor thing, but certainly a move in the right direction.

I noticed this too! The southern most "pillar" in the center of the floor has NJT and Amtrak departures on it. I guess they figured LIRR trains aren't on those tracks so made more sense to post NJT trains on them.

Will NJ Transit take over Amtrak's currently area in Penn when the new Moynihan part opens? If so have they discussed any plans for renovation?

I remember during early stages of the Moynihan project it was NJ Transit that was to be the tenant.

NJ Transit did not contribute to the Moynihan project - not even enough to build the (oddly shaped) connector for tracks 1-4 - so they will not see benefits from this project. Amtrak will keep their current space (probably closing it for renovations) in addition to the new shared Amtrak/LIRR space.

andrewjw wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2019 6:59 pm Amtrak will keep their current space (probably closing it for renovations) in addition to the new shared Amtrak/LIRR space.

I haven't heard anything about what will happen to Amtrak's existing space - was this reported anywhere? Amtrak will be moving passenger operations to the new Farley building, including baggage handling. Not sure why they'd want to have two facilities for passengers. I agree NJT should take over the existing Amtrak space, renovate it and use it in conjunction with the overcrowded 7 Ave concourse.