Managing New York's multitudes: transportation planners in the New York Metropolitan Area are moving forward on an investment program of dimensions not seen in nearly a century

Railway Age, Nov, 2002 by William C. Vantuono

The Pennsylvania Railroad's construction of the Hudson and East River tunnels and the massive Pennsylvania Station complex in midtown Manhattan in the early 1900s ranks as one of the world's greatest engineering feats and largest passenger railway projects of all time. The infrastructure the PRR built nearly a century ago today accommodates daily approximately 575 trains and nearly a half-million passengers between the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit (the first- and third-largest commuter railroads in the nation, respectively) and Amtrak. Add to that Metro-North's (the second-largest commuter operation) 590 trains and 125,000 passengers at Grand Central Terminal, the New York Central's contribution to Midtown Manhattan.

Ridership continues to grow (NJ Transit alone projects 30% growth through 2020), and the "big three" continue to invest billions in expanded and upgraded infrastructure and new equipment. But the existing physical plant is bursting at the seams, and the only way to accommodate growth, regional transportation planners believe, is to embark on a tunneling and construction program not seen in nearly a century. Planning for this massive undertaking is at the heart of the Access to the Region's Core (ARC) Major Investment Study, which is jointly sponsored by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and NJ Transit. The consultant team led by Parsons Brinckerhoff includes SYSTRA Consulting, A. Strauss-Wieder, AECOM Consulting Transportation Group, El Taller Colaborativo, P.C., Ernst & Young Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group, Interactive Elements, and Munoz Engineering, P.C.

The ARC study identified three options: Alternative P (Lower Level Penn Station), Alternative G (Grand Central Connection), and Alternative S (Sunnyside Yard).

Alternative P boosts capacity at Penn Station for west-of Hudson commuters well beyond that provided by NJ Transit's East End Concourse (RA, August, p. 28) and the signal system improvements currently under way in the Hudson River tunnels. It includes a new bilevel, eight-track, four-platform zone beneath Penn Station's existing 21 tracks; new passenger circulation zones' storage for 20-25 NJ Transit trains at a new yard on the Boonton Line (abandoned, now that the Montclair Connection has opened) in Secaucus, N.J., plus the potential to construct extensions to Grand Central Terminal and Sunnyside Yard, Queens.

Alternative G connects Penn Station with Grand Central Terminal to enable NJ Transit and Metro-North passengers to access both the East Side and West Side of Manhattan without transferring to subway or bus. It includes a new two-track tunnel connecting tracks 1-5 of Penn Station with tracks 105-112 of GCT's lower level; a new yard at 12th Avenue on the West Side of Manhattan; plus Alternative P's Secaucus yard for midday storage of Metro-North trains.

Alternative S provides for a new two-track tunnel under the East River that will enable additional NJ Transit and possibly Amtrak trains to access Sunnyside Yard, plus the potential to construct a new tunnel to GCT and a new station on the East Side.

Many New York area transportation advocates believe Alternative P should be the first big step, to be followed by connecting Penn Station with GCT; conceptual planning for a new, $5 billion double-track commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River and improvements to tracks, platforms, and the passenger circulation system at Penn Station is under way. NJ Transit last month entered into a long-term agreement with the Port Authority to produce an Environmental Impact Statement for the new tunnel, which would double the number of trains operating into Manhattan to about 45 per hour. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which is expected to be completed by early 2005, will be needed to obtain federal transportation funds.

These grand plans don't address near-term capacity needs at Penn Station, where NJ Transit's Montclair Connection and Secaucus Transfer (scheduled to open next year) are adding to the daily passenger count. That's why the ARC study includes several near-term improvements at Penn Station to provide additional capacity through 2010. Among them are a new yard under 31st Street to store up to six NJ Transit trains and an extension of LIRR's C Yard.

What of Penn Station itself, which despite numerous improvements is still regarded as unworthy of New York City's status as a key Northeast Corridor rail hub? Following several years of difficult negotiations, New York State last month struck a $230 million deal with the U.S. Postal Service to purchase the James A. Farley Building on Eighth Avenue, across the street from the existing Penn Station beneath Madison Square Garden, and convert it into a new glass-enclosed station serving NJ Transit, Amtrak, LIRR, and NYC Transit. About half the $788 million, 1.4-million-square-foot facility would be dedicated for commercial and retail space; a partnership of the Staubach Co. and Fraport A.G.-Frankfurt Airport Services will undertake development.