Program Management for a Major New York City Terminal

New York’s Penn Station, one of the busiest transit stations in the world, is due for a multi-billion-dollar overhaul.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Amtrak, and NJ TRANSIT (i.e., the core partners) are proposing to reconstruct Penn Station to enhance the pedestrian experience, improve safety, reduce crowding, and improve station operations by unifying the separate railroad concourses in the station into a state-of-the-art, well-functioning, and more open and daylit space. The Penn Reconstruction project is needed to correct the substandard conditions experienced by hundreds of thousands of customers at Penn Station each day.

The Core Partners are also progressing the Penn Station Expansion project to increase the station’s rail capacity and support the Gateway Program improvements that will modernise the Northeast Corridor between Newark and New York. The project will add at least nine new tracks to the station, increase the number of entrances, and provide more accessibility options. Overall, this expansion will allow more than a doubling of peak hour passenger trains once future capacity improvements are constructed.

HDR is providing program management support services to MTA for both projects. These separate but related projects, which are in different stages of project development, will support and be supported by the proposed redevelopment of the neighbourhood surrounding Penn Station.

Our role includes working with MTA to advance the projects through the development phase and position them for federal discretionary grants. HDR’s scope includes:

• Supporting the alternatives analysis process and preparation of NEPA, Section 106 and Section 4(f) processes for both projects.
• Supporting the completion of the Penn Reconstruction Master Plan and assisting MTA in managing the 30% design process for the preferred concept.
• Providing master program scheduling, project controls, risk management, and value engineering.

Project delivery support services including developing a contract packaging and funding strategy for the Penn Reconstruction project, considering federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding availability.