Central to Amtrak's charm is that taking a train still makes you feel like a human being, rather than flying veal. You can show up 2 minutes before the train pulls out of the station, there's ample legroom and space to move around (dining car!), everyone isn't breathing recycled rage-air, and a friendly person takes your ticket and gives it a punch. However, you'll see less of that bygone ritual this summer, when 1,700 conductors will start using iPhones to scan tickets. more ›

Did you realize that Amtrak's Northeast Corridor is the route of choice for colorful Boston mobsters? Last summer, William Coyman, 75, had a heart attack on a Penn Station train platform when he got off an Amtrak train from Boston. The AP reports, "As medics tried to revive him, police searched his backpack for identification. Inside, they found the stuff that "Law & Order" episodes are made of: $179,980 in cash, bundled with rubber bands and tucked inside two plastic bags." Chung chung! more ›

All those commuters who are reportedly giving up their cars to take NJ Transit are going to love this: A switch and signal problem in Newark is causing some serious delays for Amtrak and NJ Transit trains running into and out of Penn Station this evening. NJ Transit is saying 45-60 minutes while Amtrak is saying 60-90 minutes. more ›

Rain on the subway is not a new phenomenon—our precious little system just can't handle outbursts from Mother Nature. But major props are in order to the intrepid straphanger in the video below, who valiantly steps in when the MTA falls short. Watch the full video (c'mon—it's one minute) to learn how you, too, can be a hero amongst men. more ›

A NJ Transit train derailed in the tunnel between Penn Station and the Hudson River. A rescue operation is underway to remove passengers from the train (initial reports are that only one car derailed). more ›

Thanks to the trio of Republican governors Rick Scott, John Kasich, and Scott Walker, who all rejected millions in high-speed rail funds from the federal government, the northeast rail corridor will receive $800 million for improvements. The Washington Post's Dr. Gridlock reports that much of the work will be done to increase train speed (up to 160 mph!) between New York and Washington, D.C., with repairs being made to switches around Penn Station and equipment updates "along a busy segment of track between Morrisville, Pa., and New Brunswick, N.J." Unfortunately, it is government work, so the upgrades won't be completed until 2017. more ›

After an Amtrak train derailed in an East River tunnel yesterday, the Long Island Railroad is experiencing heavy delays and a "significantly reduced" schedule this morning. 23 westbound trains are cancelled, diverted, or terminating at Jamaica Station, where passengers can transfer to the subway into Manhattan. According to the MTA, about a quarter of the trains that the LIRR normally operates into Penn Station during the morning rush will be affected. Officials expect more cancellations and delays for tonight's p.m. rush as well! Let's turn to Twitter to see how people are coping: more ›

Yesterday, a man was stabbed outside the McDonald's on 8th Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets in midtown Manhattan, and now it turns out the victim was a security guard for the fast food restaurant. Why does a McDonald's need a guard, when it's not Shamrock Shake season? Well, some allege that the location is a haven for drug dealers and their transactions. more ›

Today, The New York Times continues its coverage of Bird Week, a seven-day holiday we never actually knew existed until Tuesday, when Mike Tyson told us all about it. But now that we've been "revisiting the city’s avian history" along with the paper, turns out there's actually some pretty crazy stuff to be found. For example! The tale of the concrete eagle head that rose anew from the remains of the original, not-so-heinous Penn Station many moons ago. more ›

There's nothing that necessitates a drink more than a trip to Penn Station, but the owners of bars in and around the transit hub say homeless people are ruining business with their panhandling. During a Midtown South Precinct Community Council meeting Thursday night, business owners called for a crackdown on beggars, some of which come up with elaborate, long running schemes to garner sympathy. Then again, the homeless people do provide a nice scapegoat; without them, customers will have to face the fact that they're just drinking in the Penn Station T.G.I. Friday's. more ›

As if Penn Station couldn't get worse: Yesterday, an escalator at Seventh Avenue and 34th Street malfunctioned, resulting in pileup of people. The Post reports, "The motorized stairs suddenly accelerated at 1 p.m., sending victims tumbling until the emergency-cutoff button was pressed." more ›

The 1, 2, and 3 trains are being rerouted or suspended because of a police investigation at the 34th Street-Penn Station stop. We hear there was an incident (update: triple murder stabbing suspect Maksim Gelman was caught on the 2 train)—either near 34th Street and 7th Avenue or 40th Street and 7th Avenue—which now means the downtown 1 train is terminating at 96th Street, the 2 trains are running on the 5 line between the 149th Street-Grand Concourse Station and the Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street Station, and the 3 train is suspended between the Chambers Street Station and the 96th Street Station. more ›

If you're traveling today or tomorrow for Thanksgiving, we hope that you have a safe journey. For those of us staying at home, well, just be relieved we're not fighting crowds at Penn Station or Grand Central or—shudder—a local airport on this busy travel day. more ›

Was there a secret meeting in which country music stars decided to turn transportation hubs into their own personal stages? Recently Taylor Swift performed at JFK's Terminal 5, and yesterday Keith Urban surprised commuters at Penn Station by turning into a busker for a short time. According to the AP, he sang five songs to several hundred fans—allegedly part of a promotional tour that's taking him to train stations nationwide. The musician, and husband of Nicole Kidman, told FOX the station has “good acoustics… it was cool. I’ve never played a train station before.” Be a lot cooler if it were in the old Penn Station. more ›

As the feds await NJ Transit to repay the $271 million in federal assistance funds sunk into the now-cancelled Trans-Hudson ARC Tunnel project, NJ Governor Chris Christie explained who convinced him to kill the huge infrastructure plan: His wife. Christie said, "The lobbying to me on this one was from [the first lady]... She's, like, 'So this thing's going 10 stories under Macy's, [and] then I gotta go back up and I gotta walk over to Penn Station. I get on a subway...' She said, 'This is crazy. This doesn't make any sense.'" But was Mary Pat Christie wrong? more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] The Office of Emergency Management says that there's been a "minor train derailment" at Penn Station, and NJ Transit and Amtrak are experiencing delays this evening. Though the derailment isn't considered major, the delays are nothing to sneeze at; Fox 5 reports hour-long delays on NJ Transit Northeast Corridor/North Jersey Coastline trains leaving New York. The derailment happened this morning, when a Midtown Direct train went off the tracks as it was leaving the station. 300 people were on board, but there were no reported injuries. more ›

Yesterday, federal, state and city officials broke ground on the Moynihan Station, the long-discussed project to redevelop Penn Station at the Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue. After years of obstacles, it was more of a "symbolic gesture," welcoming federal money being used for the project (the feds are kicking in $83 million for phase one, which has an estimated total of $276 million). more ›

Yesterday, a man who tried to rob the Chase Bank above Penn Station was shot by a police officer. Now it turns out the 69-year-old attempted robbery suspect, John Daniel Stolarz, was just released from federal prison on Wednesday after serving time for a bank robbery. According to the Post, "Stolarz was supposed to have checked in at a halfway house as part of his federal parole, the source noted. Instead, 'it looks like he went and robbed the first bank he saw,' one source said." more ›

Open House New York has arrived! There are dozens of amazing locations open today and tomorrow in all five boroughs, so we're not going to be able to visit them all. That's where you can help us: please send your OHNY pictures to photos (at) gothamist dot com, and we'll put up the best ones tomorrow. more ›

Expect to see more various law enforcement authorities during your commute, if you travel through the big transit hubs, because there's an Operation Railsafe surge today. According to WABC 7, "The greatest concentration will be at major rail hubs like Penn Station and Grand Central terminal. NYPD officers will also ride the rails with bomb sniffing dogs, and bag checkpoints are possible. Meanwhile, Amtrak will have increased uniformed police visible along major routes and heightened station patrols." more ›

Yesterday, police arrested a 19-year-old Bronx man for allegedly threatening to blow up Penn Station and other transit hubs. And it turns out Jonathan Avalos is no stranger to the NYPD or making threats: He was arrested last year for threatening to kill President Obama and Police Commissioner Kelly. more ›

According to the MTA, all service has been restored, except to the Port Washington line which is still suspended. Trains, which were stopped because of yesterday quick, pummeling storm that hit Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island hard, started moving around 11 p.m. last night and most service was back around 5 a.m. this morning. We've added some pictures of last night's totally haywire commute—make that non-commute, since service was shutdown. more ›

Police have caught the man who allegedly attacked and raped a Long Island woman near Penn Station Monday morning. The attacker, Paul Smalls, 43, of Brooklyn, has a previous arrest record that includes attempted murder, weapons possession, and busts for robbery, sexual abuse and assault. more ›

Surprise: there's a big difference between the kind of efficiency commuter rails are reporting and the delays commuters are experiencing. Though New Jersey Transit and Metro North Rail Road claim almost 96% of trains were on time last year, the Times discovered the numbers were vastly skewed by trains that ran on time during off-peak hours. During rush hours, they found almost 25% of NJT trains coming into Manhattan were running late, and LIRR customers traveling from Huntington to Manhattan arrive late one out of every ten trips. But if a train is always late doesn't that become the new "on time"? more ›

Just in time for yesterday's evening commute, wire issues caused troubles for NJ Transit riders who were left waiting, nearly packed like sardines, at Penn Station. According to the Post, there were "delays upwards of 60 minutes," hitting the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morris & Essex, Port Jervis, Montclair, and Pascack Valley lines. One weary person told WCBS 2, "One of the hazards of commuting … is dealing with delays." more ›

There's been talk for years now that a semi-forgotten underground passageway between Herald Square and Penn Station would be reopened. And while there's still nothing guaranteed, a few more details about the plan have emerged. The 800-foot pedestrian concourse, which was closed in the early '80s because of crime, is only nine feet wide at some points, and currently dilapidated. (Called Gimbels Passageway, it's named for the old Gimbels department store that closed in 1986, which was replaced by Manhattan Mall.) Now the Post reports that Vornado Realty Trust is still seeking permission to reopen the passage, expanding the narrowest section to 16 feet and filling it with retail shops and art, in the style of Rockefeller Center. more ›

The multiple brawls, shootings and more that spread in Midtown on Easter night into Monday morning were dubbed "wilding" by Mayor Bloomberg, "The mayhem in Midtown appears to be a bunch of gang members wilding. There’s a bunch of people that think it’s cute to go out and to run around and to cause chaos, and we loaded the area up with police, but they can’t be everywhere." Know what else some of these people may think is cute? To give the bird to a Daily News photographer after being arrested! more ›

Dozens of people have been arrested after melees in Times Square and near Penn Station that left at least four people shot by guns or a BB gun. According to WABC 7, "The violence broke out after a yearly Easter Night ritual of a roving band of rowdy youths walking to Times Square after attending the auto show at the Javits Center." And a security guard in Times Square told the Post, "This kind of nonsense [on Easter night] has been going on for the five years I've been here." more ›