When they do announce the track number, people rush to get on the trains, creating crowded, dangerous, and unbearable conditions during rush hour. On all railroads serving New York Penn, they don’t announce the track number until ten minutes before the train leaves. Just infuriating. In addition to the train delays, the boarding process for all trains at Penn Station is tedious and nerve wracking. Any breakdowns and problems in the tunnels, and you’re talking four hour delays. Thirdly, is the fact that for the many trains that pass through Penn Station every day, there are only two tunnels. This meant regular cancellations and lots of angry and frustrated commuters system wide. Secondly, NJ Transit also experienced personnel problems as almost half of its locomotive engineers either retired or moved to work on other railroads. Firstly, Amtrak did extensive work on the tracks and had to cancel or re-route certain trains. In 20, Penn Station was plagued by delays due to three things. That’s more passengers every year than Newark, JFK, and LaGuardia airport’s combined. By the late 2010s, the current Penn Station had become associated with the Seventh Dimension of Hell. At the time it was opened, people weren’t taking trains, but over the past fifty-three years, the number of people passing through here each day had increased. Originally built to handle 200,000 passengers per day, that number had increased to over 600,000 passengers per day in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic years. The existing Penn Station, opened in 1968, is still very confusing, dingy, and an undesirable place to be. As a result, the original head house was torn down starting in 1963, with Madison Square Garden and a high rise building taking its place by 1968. But the tracks, platforms and remaining infrastructure below were spared. An act of civil and public vandalism, the demolition of Pennsylvania Station sparked international outrage, and prompted the historic preservation movement which did save Grand Central Terminal. So much so, that the cash-strapped Pennsylvania Railroad sold the air rights of the original Pennsylvania Station to save money. As the airlines and highways were being built in the 1950s, railroads became a less relevant and outdated form of travel. But unfortunately it would only last fifty-three years. In the golden age of train travel, it was possible to ride all the way to Mexico City on a sleeper car! With its tall columns, a 150-foot high Grand Hall, and soaring glass ceiling, the original Penn Station was a marvel to behold. For many years, passengers from all across the United States, and commuters from Long Island came or went here. With the opening of Pennsylvania Station and the North River tunnels, came a huge boom in urban development for New York City, Long Island, and the entire Northeastern Region of the United States. Please join me as I bring you an updated version of my interest in Penn Station New York, as well as explore the brand new Moynihan Train Hall for the very first time. However, the opening of Moynihan Train Hall has provided some relief, but will never do the original Penn Station any justice. How can we have put up with such an atrocity and a disgrace of travel hub? How much longer will it be before we can be able to find the opportunity to rebuild and restore old Penn Station to it’s former glory? The Penn Station we know that sits under Madison Square Garden is still a disgrace to New Yorkers, to Americans, and to all people the world over feeling, still feeling, the effects of this bad decision. For many years, while other cities across the country and the world boasted grand intercity rail stations, New York’s intercity rail hub was just an embarrassment. The demolition of the Grand Old Pennsylvania Station Head House in 1963 stripped New York City of it’s character, dignity, and faith. A New York Story, spoken in a New York Accent, written by New York hands.
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