In a major step forward for the redevelopment and expansion of New York Penn Station, Amtrak – in partnership with NJ TRANSIT and in coordination with MTA – has entered into a contract with global engineering, consulting and design firm Arup to begin designing options for the first new tracks, platforms and concourses connected to New York Penn Station in more than a century.

The work is part of the overarching plan under the Gateway Program to roughly double capacity into Penn Station from the west, relieving a major bottleneck on the Northeast Corridor by allowing more trains to serve the nation’s busiest rail facility and improving reliability for customers. This substantive railroad-focused work is a seminal piece of a larger undertaking to improve the existing station and expand the facility for the future, plans for which are being developed by Amtrak and its partners in New York and New Jersey.

The preliminary design effort begins immediately and will produce railroad concepts to be analyzed as part of the Federal environmental review for Penn Station expansion. The design will focus on development of new tracks and platforms, escalators and other vertical circulation elements, pedestrian concourses, and connections to existing and future facilities.

The design team will coordinate closely with Amtrak’s partners and the various planners and designers of other projects taking place throughout the Penn Station complex to integrate schedules and streamline delivery of work for all parties. The design is expected to take approximately two years and cost approximately $73 million.

-via Press Release