I don't have any number for Amtrak other then their main number. I'd love to have HQ and Penn office numbers.
Oh, the escalator was dead again today. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. And of course, the DOWN was still going down, so we were back to cripples having to try and find their way up with the rush hour crowds. I won't be checking again until Friday, hopefully. Who knows, maybe yet another semi fix will be in place.
This is pathetic on Amtrak's part.
Is Congress in charge of this escalator? Sounds like it.
That being said, I must caution you, RTRoy. It is highly offensive to refer to people inconvenienced by this bloody escalator as "cripples." Find another way to refer to these passengers, please.
And keep us informed as to this important matter.
Really? People struggling up the stairs on canes and crutches? Maybe a poor choice of wording on my part, but horrific judgement by Amtrak. I have asthma, and that climb often leaves me close to having an attack. And then there are the seniors in poor shape also having a rough time. I have family members who couldn't make it, let alone walk a block out of their way to use another exit. Get your priorities straight. Maybe I'm not always politically correct in my words, but Amtrak's behavior at Penn sickens me - and I'm not anti Amtrak.
First question I have is who is responsible for maintaining Penn Station? Is it Amtrak or the NY Transit Authority? Doesn't seem fair to blame Amtrak if they have no control over the situation.
BruceLA
Pennsylvania Station, NYC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, which is Amtrak. It is responsible for the station.
Amtrak also owns 30th Street Station in Philadelphia and Union Station in Chicago. Both are subsidiaries of NRPC. It shares ownership, I believe, in the Union Terminal Company in Washington, D.C. These are the only major stations owned by Amtrak. Most of the other stations are owned by the cities where they are located. In some instances, such as LAX, they are owned by an area transportation authority, which is an offshoot of the city and county governments.
RTroy Really? People struggling up the stairs on canes and crutches? Maybe a poor choice of wording on my part, but horrific judgement by Amtrak. I have asthma, and that climb often leaves me close to having an attack. And then there are the seniors in poor shape also having a rough time. I have family members who couldn't make it, let alone walk a block out of their way to use another exit. Get your priorities straight. Maybe I'm not always politically correct in my words, but Amtrak's behavior at Penn sickens me - and I'm not anti Amtrak.
Mobility impaired is the politically correct term.
Sam is quite correct about Penn Station. Amtrak also owns much of the tracks that it share with LIRR and NJT.
I know Amtrak is kind of stuck with being in the 'pitts' of Penn - an underground half of a train station that it shares with 2 other busy railroads. And that until if and when MSG is either removed or lifted higher, then they can't expand where they need to between 7th and 8th Aves. Forget the Post Office bldg; all they'll ever have there is a billion dollar food court that no one will come to. So they need to creatively use what space they have, and take good care of what's in it. Yet they seem to have abandoned the 7th Ave entrance/exit. They have a 'fancy' one that no one uses that goes right into their waiting area. But the one at 7th is hundreds of feet East. And from what people have said the station management people don't seem to care in the slightest about conditions in the station.
RTroyI know Amtrak is kind of stuck with being in the 'pitts' of Penn - an underground half of a train station that it shares with 2 other busy railroads.
Actually, the 7th Avenue entrance is and has always been NYP's main entrance. That is where the cab stand is and that is where the buses run. To fail to maintain it is reprehensible.
I suspect that because of the way Amtrak is organized people forget that it is still part of the Federal Government. Anyone can go to any Federal building, including any Post Office, without finding the deplorable conditions that are standard procedure at NYP. Perhaps if people wrote to their Senator or Congressperson it might change.
Just wrote to Chuck S!
RTroyJust wrote to Chuck S!
I would be interested in hearing what he writes back. He is a supporter of Amtrak.
My concern is that he seems more interested in building a billion buck food court across the street then in actually making Penn work for its daily users. And I hope I'm wrong.
Are you referring to New Jersey Transit? It is true that there are not enough tracks. Not enough under the Hudson, not enough in the yards, or in the station, or going east to Queens.
Penn has lots of problems. Poor interior layout is a big one. But tunnel capacity to NJ is high on the list, using a tunnel that badly needs renovation. We need the current proposal for a new Hudson tunnel and new track-age a good part of the way to Newark to bypass the old slow bridge, etc. We could also use through connections to the new LIRR area at GCT, which would provide an alternative to the worn out East River tunnels that are constantly causing problems. Penn is badly overcrowded - in some areas, like the Amtrak waiting area and most of the LIRR concourses. LIRR could reduce the problem by having usable train departure monitors at many locations to get rid of the huge crowd by the huge signs. East Side Access will help crowding, but it will also improve commutes for many by getting LIRR passengers who work on the East Side off the 7th Ave IRT and the GCT shuttle. I used to work at 245 Park Ave; it would have saved me 45 minutes or more a day on my commute. My current office is a block from the Northwest exit from GCT. Even though I come from the PJ line, transferring at Jamaica would hopefully save lots of time - assuming LIRR was halfway competent.
Have you tried Woodside or Hunterspoint Avenue and the Number 7 until East Sode access opens? If you have not, I think you will be pleased by the easier transfer. Won't guarantee to save time, but will save hassle.
I speak from experience. When my office was near the Metro North N. White Plains Station, I often had projects on LI, and went by train whenever practical. I learned quickly to save a lot of effort by using Woodside instead of Penn Station. I knew about the connection, but it took one of my Long Island clients o sugges it.
Only works if the trains you use stop at Woodside. And I do use Hunterspoint - in the evening, since when I leave work the only PJ direct trains from Penn have long since departed- before rush hour. I hate HPA - it is a painful transfer, but most eastbound PJ trains depart from there, and the trains are way too short so you need to board at HPA to get a seat.. In the morning, I'm on a PJ to Penn train that doesn't stop at Woodside.
I found that the across the platorm transfer at Jamaica was no problem at all. Most of the time I needed a train that did not stop at Woodside, but found Jamaica connections convenient enough to make Woodside preferred over Penn. I did have work at NYSU-Fredonia. Is my memory correct that it is on the Port Jefferson line? Also work in Oyster Bay and on the South Shore including Bay Shore. What is so terrible about Hunters Point? Seemed less painful than Penn to me.
1. Not all Jamaica transfers are across the platform. Plus conductors don't announce till the last moment, if at all, which of 2 or more connecting trains will be on what track. Plus there can be huge crowds changing. And the train you are getting on is typically full before it gets to Jamaica, so you may not get a seat.
2. Fredonia? Never heard of it. And I'm on the PJ line.
3. Hunters Point Ave. The platform is crumbling and rotting away, the very high, steep stairs rusting away. The ticket machines kind of sort of sometimes work. There is no handicapped access. It is very hard for many people to make the climb. And then there's the HPA subway station, which has very tight, narrow stairs that are again, not easy for many to climb. No handicapped access for either subway or train station. Also, LIRR has made changes to the schedule there, but it seldom updates the big, posted schedules - so trains can be missing or wrong. Plus getting to HPA, for most people, means the badly overcrowded #7 subway train. NYCTA wants the transfer to be as hard as possible, to discourage people from boarding the subway there.
daveklepper ... I did have work at NYSU-Fredonia. Is my memory correct that it is on the Port Jefferson line? ...
... I did have work at NYSU-Fredonia. Is my memory correct that it is on the Port Jefferson line? ...
NYSU-Fredonia is in western NY near Dunkirk. You are probably thinking of Stony Brook which is near Port Jeff.
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