FRA to study Penn Station operations as part of redevelopment planning, Byford says

NEW YORK — The Federal Railroad Administration will conduct an independent review of operations at New York’s Penn Station to determine whether expansion of the number of station tracks is needed as part of renovation plans, Amtrak’s Andy Byford said Friday.

Byford made his first public comments since being named to oversee the project at an Empire State Coalition reception, the West Side Spirit reports. Byford was named in May to lead the project as a special advisor to the Amtrak board [see “Byford, former New York City Transit head, to oversee …,” Trains News Wire, May 23, 2025].

Physical expansion of the station remains a contentious topic since it would involve leveling a block near the current station. Opponents of the expansion — including the group Byford spoke to — contend the facility could handle growth through reorganization of local commuter operations so trains run through the station, rather than being the endpoint for separate Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit, and — eventually — Metro-North service. But Amtrak and the commuter operators said in a study last year that expansion is the only option to handle the additional service that will come with the completion of the Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson River [see “Amtrak, commuter railroads say …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 3, 2024].

An FRA spokesman described the review to the Spirit as “an independent service optimization study for New York Penn.”

Byford also told the gathering that his goal is to “totally transform every aspect of Penn Station. … We are going to deliver you a totally transformed, state of the art, beautiful Penn Station.”

One of the challenges of the project has been the existence of at least three competing redevelopment plans; Byford said Friday there would be a competition for the best plan, the details of which would be announced soon.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had previously had the lead role in the project, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier this year that the FRA and Amtrak were replacing MTA in that role at the direction of President Donald Trump [see “FRA, Amtrak to take over …,” April 17, 2025]. While the Trump administration and the MTA have been fighting on a number of fronts — mostly notably over the congestion tolling plan that helps fund MTA capital projects — MTA CEO Janno Lieber and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul both said they welcomed the federal participation, with Hochul saying it would “save New York taxpayers $1.3 billion.”

Byford — who had joined Amtrak to lead its high-speed rail efforts before the administration ended the passenger operator’s involvement in such projects — was named to the new role the following month after a meeting with Trump.

“I think it’s just important that there’s clarity on who is in the lead, which doesn’t mean that the other agencies aren’t involved,” Byford told the news site City & State New York in an interview. “Far from it. We need to have a partnership approach in order to make this thing work.”

Byford said that, in a way, Duffy is his boss on the project.

“I have a dual reporting, both through the Amtrak board and the Amtrak president, but also the dual reporting line through the deputy secretary to the secretary,” he said. “This is a project of super-importance to the Trump administration, and I was honored to be asked to do it.”

Asked about a timeline for the project, he said only, “That will become apparent.”