New Amtrak Moynihan train hall at NYP

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adamj023

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Apr 1, 2015
Messages
277
It is hard to believe that the new Moynihan train hall will finally be ready soon which will make using Amtrak at Penn Station in NYC so much nicer in every way including the new Metropolitan Lounge! I hope they improve boarding procedures. I presume NJ Transit will take over the existing space as NJ Transit which built their facilities in former Amtrak office spaces was a very tight space although I assume Amtrak customers will still be able to access the tracks from the older facility. The Moynihan train hall will be the busiest Amtrak facility and will definitely improve Amtrak and be used to showcase the new Avelia Liberty trains which also will be in service in the not too distant future. I have vivid memories of taking Amtrak in the old section with the Solari board still in place and the round hallway section. It was very disappointing for a first class city like New York City.
 
The biggest thing might be to see what the new lounge looks like, also, it (the train hall) will be closed overnight, and anything that comes in overnight will still be serviced from the other side. But since it is closed overnight, they have no legal issues with shooing people out at closing time.
 
Very happy opening day is finally here. In 2001 I wrote the following words in a journal:

"S-Bahn passed the construction site of Berlin's new central railway station, Lehrter Bahnhof....The scope of the construction is truly amazing....New York City has been trying for decades, so far unsuccessfully, to move the train tracks and the entrance to Pennsylvania Station exactly one block west. I am quite certain that in the time it will take to break ground on this modest project, Lehrter Bahnhof will be up and running."

Lehrter Bahnhof now renamed Berlin Hauptbahnhof opened in 2006.
 
So does anyone know the plans for the old Amtrak space at NYP? Will it be operating in parallel? Will it be refurbished/remodeled for just NJT (god I hope so)?
 
The biggest thing might be to see what the new lounge looks like, also, it (the train hall) will be closed overnight, and anything that comes in overnight will still be serviced from the other side. But since it is closed overnight, they have no legal issues with shooing people out at closing time.
So does anyone know the plans for the old Amtrak space at NYP? Will it be operating in parallel? Will it be refurbished/remodeled for just NJT (god I hope so)?
In view of PVD's post, I would suspect that Amtrak will still need a presence in the existing space, to serve train's 66&67, or any other that operates "off-hours"...
 
In view of PVD's post, I would suspect that Amtrak will still need a presence in the existing space, to serve train's 66&67, or any other that operates "off-hours"...

That is correct.

From Amtrak, directly:

Hours of Operations
Moynihan Train Hall will be open to the public daily from 5 am through 1 am and closed to the public between 1 am and 5 am. Between 1 am and 5 am, all Amtrak operations will be handled at New York Penn Station, including baggage, Red Cap services, access and egress to platforms
 
Apparently, there will not be any eating places in it. And "Club Acela" is again being named "Metropolitan Lounge"
 
In view of PVD's post, I would suspect that Amtrak will still need a presence in the existing space, to serve train's 66&67, or any other that operates "off-hours"...
For a period of time after MTH opening, Amtrak will staff and fully serve both MTH and the existing Amtrak concourse at current Penn. After a transitionary period, MTH will exclusively serve as the full service staffed Amtrak station and the old concourse and ticketed waiting area will remain open mainly as additional concourse space for NJT passengers as well as an unmanned station for Amtrak for passengers who wish to still use that side for convenience reasons except for the night 1AM to 5AM hours when there will be baggage and red caps available.
 
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Apparently, there will not be any eating places in it. And "Club Acela" is again being named "Metropolitan Lounge"
No 'eating places'?
I had thought from some early rendering's, that there were going to be all sorts of shops and restaurants around the new hall...🤔
 
Apparently, there will not be any eating places in it. And "Club Acela" is again being named "Metropolitan Lounge"
"Accommodations will include a sunlit atrium boarding concourse, a combined ticketing and baggage unit, a new Metropolitan Lounge, a new reserved customer waiting room, casual waiting space with high top tables and retail and food shops."

nec.amtrak.com/project/moynihan-station/
 
"Accommodations will include a sunlit atrium boarding concourse, a combined ticketing and baggage unit, a new Metropolitan Lounge, a new reserved customer waiting room, casual waiting space with high top tables and retail and food shops."

nec.amtrak.com/project/moynihan-station/
Due to the Pandemic, the eating joints and mom and Pop shops probably wont start till things are back to business as usual @ NYP.
 
"Accommodations will include a sunlit atrium boarding concourse, a combined ticketing and baggage unit, a new Metropolitan Lounge, a new reserved customer waiting room, casual waiting space with high top tables and retail and food shops."

nec.amtrak.com/project/moynihan-station/
"Accommodations will include a sunlit atrium boarding concourse, a combined ticketing and baggage unit, a new Metropolitan Lounge, a new reserved customer waiting room, casual waiting space with high top tables and retail and food shops."

nec.amtrak.com/project/moynihan-station/

BIG senior moment for me on that one, LOL!😁
 
Who in their right mind would open a food establishment in MTH until the pandemic is just a memory ?
The Denver Post just ran an article about new restaurants opening in the pandemic. If it's starting from scratch they can deal with issues that are difficult for established operations. For example: using ghost kitchens with delivery to shared pick up points or plain old take-out service.
 
Opening a restaurant, even in the best of times is a risky business...I think I read somewhere that half of them will fail within their first six months to a year.
In this pandemic, with spikes and lockdowns, the odds of succeeding would seem to be even lower than that...
 
Opening a restaurant, even in the best of times is a risky business...I think I read somewhere that half of them will fail within their first six months to a year.
In this pandemic, with spikes and lockdowns, the odds of succeeding would seem to be even lower than that...
In our small city, as some restaurants closed during the pandemic for various reasons, others opened up and not just where the closed ones were.
 
Opening a restaurant, even in the best of times is a risky business...I think I read somewhere that half of them will fail within their first six months to a year.
In this pandemic, with spikes and lockdowns, the odds of succeeding would seem to be even lower than that...

It is a very difficult business to break into just because of the sheer competition and variety in the market. Even in a small town like mine we have over 15 options for a population of less than 3,000 people. It is hard for a business to break into a market like that especially when the other competitors are well ingrained. McDonalds and other fast food restaurants have less of a problem because they have enough cash flow from other locations to subsidize a losing restaurant till it gains some share. Whereas a small restaurant will struggle the first few years to develop a following and carve out a spot of the market for themselves.
 
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