sppunk

Right, that I understand. But the tracks run under 8th so we can still access directly via stairs from the arrival area in Penn? Or is Amtrak stopping short in the tunnel and not proceeding past 8th at all? I’m sure Moynihan is beautiful but if I can skip the crush at a needless ticket check by an escalator (like they currently do at Penn) ....

Long Train Runnin

I do not anticipate anything changing with the opening maybe some longer walks, but the platforms will be all the same. Even if they stopped "short" on any platform they use its still going to be connected to the "old" boarding areas. You just might have a longer walk.

​​​​​​I imagine once things open in Moynihan there will be new tricks for boarding Amtrak trains there too.

bennos

The (Hudson River) tunnel ends west of Moynihan Station. Moynihan sits directly on top of the same tracks as Penn. Even if Amtrak stops the trains further west, you'll still be able to walk along the platforms between both buildings.

The way to think about this is how LIRR and NJT currently operate. Both operate over the same set of tracks (mostly, although each has some dedicated platforms), but they board from different areas in the same building. If an NJT train boards from track 15, you can access it from the LIRR track 15 stairways - it's the same track. The same will apply from Moynihan. If an Acela boards from track 13, you can access it from Moynihan, NJT, or LIRR - it's still the same track.

There are two potential complications for boarding Amtrak trains from Penn: First, knowing the track assignment. I suspect track assignments will still be posted in Penn, but (for comparison) Amtrak and NJT assignments are generally not posted on LIRR boards. Amtrak could stop posting track assignments in Penn. A mobile phone would solve that, though.

Second, Amtrak could put some sort of barrier on the platform to prevent people from entering via Penn. This would be impractical for a number of reasons, including shared platforms that can be concurrently boarded with commuter trains, and inconveniencing exiting passengers. Indeed, the renderings of Moynihan include an LIRR train announcement, suggesting all trains will be reachable from both buildings. (Subject to platform lengths, anyway. Already tracks 1 - 4 can't be reached directly from the new LIRR West End Concourse, but those are used almost exclusively by NJT.)

sppunk

Makes complete sense - thanks. We haven’t used the. yup board in forever - you can access the vision board (shaped by NJT and Amtrak) n the phone and hits quicker than screens or a public announcement at NYP (a few secs difference can make a difference, especially for NEC NJT trains Kate at night on a weekend!). We take Amtrak at least monthly into NYP from the Keystone run (well pre#-covid) so tricks are our friend.

musicalbox

I have been wondering about this too. The advantage of boarding downstairs was that you could skip the upstairs line and have a quicker trip to the train when the track hit the board (and simultaneously, the screens downstairs). If the trains are parked further west to match where the queue will now be boarding in Moynihan Hall, it will be a longer walk along the platform from Penn Station, probably negating some of that time advantage. I have had Acela Lounge access for several years now so no longer bother waiting at the screens downstairs. But my trip to NYP is on the 1/2/3 line and the longer walk to the Acela Lounge to simply sit for five minutes while awaiting the early announcement may no longer be worth it, in which case, I'd rejoin the scrum by the downstairs screens.

I wish I could avoid the whole thing by riding Acela or Regional BC and getting an assigned seat but it just isn't in the budget. After next week I may not have a trip for months so will be eager to hear of others' experiences.

bennos

FWIW, I've boarded a number of Acelas where the east end of the train is parked right by the 8th Ave staircases, and the west end of the train is under what will be Moynihan, so it's entirely plausible that trains will be easily reachable from both buildings. An Acela trainset is 665 feet long (including power cars). (Regionals and other trains vary according to the number of cars, but for comparison an Amfleet car is 85 feet long, so a 7 car set with power car is about the same length. The new Acela trainsets are only about 30 feet longer.) This is roughly the same distance as the 8th Avenue staircases to the center of Moynihan.

Long Train Runnin

They will not put barriers on the platforms to separate things it would be fire/safety issue.

AndyPatterson

Based on the Amtrak video and the floor plan, it does not look like there is a direct entry from the Moynihan station to the A-C-E line. Instead, it looks like there's a passageway under the street to the old building and the current subway entrances?!

Is there any long-range plan to cut an entrance directly to the A-C-E line from the Moynihan station?

bennos

I haven't seen it yet, but there should be a more or less direct connection from the northeast corner of the building to the ACE via the LIRR West End Concourse. This would be via the already opened LIRR entrance on the west side of 8th Ave at 33 St. From Moynihan, go down the escalator rather than up to the street, then turn left to get to the subway.

I guess it's possible for a level entrance to the downtown C and E, but everything else will require going under or over anyway.

vatraveler

I've used the downtown C,E entrance from the West End Concourse. Not directly in Moynihan but still pretty convenient. I normally ride 1,2,3 but will probably switch to C,E after 1/1.

physioprof

The West End concourse is very nice. Whenever I get off the Acela, I walk west on the platform & exit that way, which avoids the overwhelmingly vast majority of pax exiting eastwards into Penn Station.

AndyPatterson

Thanks to you and the previous two posters. I have been using NYP for over two decades, and didn't even know that there was a "West End Concourse"! Of course, this becomes moot once the Moynihan station opens. My only concern is whether schlepping a suitcase from Moynihan to the train station would be longer than the current setup. I'll have to get used to traveling on A-C-E, fortunately only one stop to Times Square to get to my usual place on W 44th.

AndyPatterson

The New York Times website has two fascinating, well-illustrated articles about the Moynihan station! These are on the website -- not in today's print edition, but I suspect they will be published in print by the weekend.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/a...gtype=Homepage (art works)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/n...sultPosition=2 (station in general_

I do not know if these are freely accessible, or only to subscribers. If you can't access them, one has a lengthy description of the station artworks (very clever, including stained glass by Kehinde Wilde, and photomurals by Stan Douglas). The other admits that the capacity issues are still a problem -- the bottleneck in the Hudson River tunnels, as well as the limited number of platforms, both of which will require $$$ fixes in the near future. Also that the subway stations are still a fair walk away.

Blumie

You're taking the statement out of context. The article does state that the subway lines are "a good distance from the new train hall," but in the context of stating that the new station is convenient only for Amtrak riders, not subway riders, for whom going through the new station to get to the subway doesn't make sense.

I'll keep repeating until I'm blue in the face: The train tracks continue to be the exact same distance from the subway as they've always been. And the new station is directly across the street from the old station. There is no reason for anyone to reconsider their subway commuting plans based on the opening of the new station.

vatraveler

Some good pictures here (and a link back to accompanying article):

https://gothamist.com/news/photos/pe...n-hall?image=0