Amtrak released the first glimpse of the interior of the long-planned Moynihan Station yesterday, in its report [pdf] detailing plans for high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor. It's not as impressive as previous designs (see last image here) but hey, anything's better than the current iteration of Penn Station, right? And there still seems to be plenty of glass and light in this version, which is projected to cost almost $270 million. The first $150 million phase is expected to open in 2016, extending the current terminal across 8th Avenue into the landmark Farley Post Office Building.
For commuters, the changes will be mostly cosmetic. The first phase will add new entrances through the Farley building and create easier access to and from the tracks for LIRR commuters, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak. Amtrak plans to add eight additional tracks to accommodate new high speed bullet trains, but the tracks that connect under the Hudson are already operating at capacity. Funding for this whole operation is still not fully secured—and is now in the hands of the cash-strapped Port Authority—so you can take the 2025 completion date with however many grains of salt you choose.
