The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) have released findings from phase one of its New York Penn Station Service Optimization Study (SOS). The report examined how basic infrastructure improvements to New York Penn Station’s existing footprint could unlock additional train capacity and improve the passenger experience. The department says this phase I study is designed to help inform the ongoing track-level design work by the project’s master developer.

SOS results

The report examined a series of key upgrades, including:

• Extending three key platforms
• Installing additional stairs/escalators
• Decluttering platforms
• Improving signage

“Whether you are a daily commuter or a tourist, Penn Station can and should work better for you. That means reducing frustrating delays and increasing capacity,” said USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy. “This early report underscores how the work we are doing to transform the station into a world class transit hub isn’t just a face lift—it can fundamentally improve the travel experience. I want to thank our Federal Railroad team for their hard work and look forward to the department continuing to hit these key milestones on schedule.”

The pair of regulators say that implementing these enhancements—along with reduced dwell times—would allow New York Penn Station capacity to increase to up to 32 trains per hour per direction in the morning peak period and 30 trains per hour per direction in the evening peak period. This roughly 33% increase would come from improved passenger flow and reduced friction in daily operations.

The report says the station currently operates at or near capacity at most peak time, and the current set up has created on-time performance issues for the services. The report cites that in 2025, Amtrak only had 76% of its train arrive on time on the Northeast Corridor (NEC). While New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) did slightly better, it still only experienced 81% on-time performance for its NEC line.

"Penn Transformation is essential to the economic vitality of New York City, New Jersey and the entire Northeast Corridor," said FRA Administrator David Fink. “We will improve the track-level operations and infrastructure to deliver more capacity without delaying this vital project. As we continue to refine service improvements, we look forward to working with the railroad operations teams to make sure the proposed service improvements happen safely and smoothly.”

FRA is conducting the study in two phases:

• Phase I examined the track, platform and vertical circulation elements within the existing station complex, between West 31st to West 33rd Streets and 6th to 10th Avenues.
• Phase II is upcoming and will evaluate broader regional infrastructure and operational strategies that may further enable long-term service growth, including infrastructure beyond Penn Station, train fleets and other topics such as how this service growth will be managed in the future. It will also evaluate the potential to reach a higher maximum number of trains per hour. 

Throughout Phase I, FRA notes it engaged stakeholders, including Amtrak, NJ Transit and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, along with its subsidiaries Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad. Phase II is set to build on this initial report and take input from these railroad operations teams, other independent capacity studies and various stakeholders. This next phase is designed to establish a broader vision for regional service growth and identify capital projects and operational changes across the New York metropolitan area to achieve long-term throughput goals and reliability.

“The SOS will help us achieve four of our key objectives of the Penn Transformation project: to exponentially increase the concourse capacity, make the station fully accessible, enable for safer and more efficient station operation and to accommodate current and future passenger growth,” said Amtrak Special Advisor Andy Byford. “When we say we’re going to bring a world-class station to New Yorkers, it’s not just about design and layout, it’s also about what the SOS will ultimately accomplish through this essential, independent and data-driven analysis. I look forward to working with [US]DOT, FRA and our partner railroads on phase II of the report and identify ways to further increase the capacity of Penn Station to meet its future needs.”

Phase II is set to be completed in 2028.