Construction was completed on the Hudson River tunnels on October 9, 1906, and on the East River tunnels on March 18, 1908. A second set of four single-track tunnels, the East River Tunnels, were bored from the east under the East River, linking the new station to Queens, the PRR-owned Long Island Rail Road, and Sunnyside Yard in Queens, where trains would be maintained and assembled. īeginning in June 1903, the two single-track North River Tunnels were bored from the west under the Hudson River. The station would sit in Manhattan's Tenderloin district, a historical red-light district known for its corruption and prostitution. In 1901, PRR president Alexander Cassatt announced the railroad's plan to enter New York City by tunneling under the Hudson and building a grand station on the West Side of Manhattan south of 34th Street. The development of the electric locomotive at the turn of the 20th century made a tunnel feasible. The alternative was to tunnel under the river, but this was infeasible for steam locomotive use. Īn early proposal for a bridge was considered but rejected. In any event, none of the proposals advanced during this time were considered feasible. Many proposals for a cross-Hudson connection were advanced in the late 19th century, but financial panics in the 1870s and 1890s scared off potential investors. The rival New York Central Railroad's line ran down Manhattan from the north under Park Avenue and terminated at Grand Central Depot (later replaced by Grand Central Terminal) at 42nd Street. Manhattan-bound passengers boarded ferries to cross the Hudson River for the final stretch of their journey. Until the early 20th century, the PRR's rail network terminated on the western side of the Hudson River (once known locally as the North River) at Exchange Place in Jersey City, New Jersey. Pennsylvania Station Excavation by George Bellows ( c. Further plans call for adding railway platforms in a new southern annex to accommodate two proposed Gateway Program tunnels under the Hudson River, adding underground connections to the Herald Square station and with the PATH to the 33rd Street station, and renovating the core Penn Station under Madison Square Garden. Expansion of the LIRR concourse was substantially completed in 2023. Ī new direct entrance from 33rd Street to the LIRR concourse opened in December 2020, followed closely by the opening of Moynihan Train Hall, an expansion of Penn Station into a mixed-use redevelopment of the adjacent Farley Post Office building.

The New York Times editorial board described the demolition of the original station as a 'monumental act of vandalism', and its destruction galvanized the modern historic preservation movement.

Its head house and train shed were torn down in 1963 as a cost-cutting measure, and over the next six years the remaining elements were reconstituted as a smaller underground station that survives today, retaining most of the original rail infrastructure. Completed in 1910, it enabled direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. The original Pennsylvania Station was an ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style. Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original owner, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. Connections are available within the complex to the New York City Subway and buses. Intercity trains are operated by Amtrak, which owns the station, while commuter rail services are operated by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and NJ Transit (NJT).

It is at the center of the Northeast Corridor, a passenger rail line that connects New York City to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and intermediate points. Penn Station has 21 tracks fed by seven tunnels (the two North River Tunnels, the four East River Tunnels, and the single Empire Connection tunnel). It is close to Herald Square, the Empire State Building, Koreatown, and Macy's Herald Square. Farley Building, with additional exits to nearby streets. It is located in Midtown Manhattan, beneath Madison Square Garden in the block bounded by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets, and in the James A. Pennsylvania Station (also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station) is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers per weekday as of 2019.

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