In a ribbon cutting ceremony, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and United States Senator Charles Schumer marked the official opening of the West End Concourse of Moynihan Train Hall, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM).
The concourse, the first phase of the redevelopment of New York City’s Penn Station, provides access to 17 of the station’s 21 tracks and will link the future Moynihan Train Hall to Penn Station. The second phase of the project, the redesign of the Train Hall, is anticipated to open in 2020.
SOM’s design of the new West End Concourse significantly increases the concourse space in the station complex, improves pedestrian access with new station entries on Eighth Avenue, relieves congestion by providing access to the western ends of existing platforms, and transforms the travel experience for hundreds of thousands of Amtrak and Long Island Rail Road riders.
The integration of digital lighting and wayfinding displays throughout the concourse make an informative and enjoyable environment. This state-of-the-art transportation facility creates a public space that offers a tangible link to New York’s grand history while adding much-needed capacity to the region’s rail system.
As part of Phase Two of the Moynihan Train Hall redesign, an iconic new skylight will enclose the new boarding concourse, arching up from massive original steel trusses that span the internal courtyard. Melding old and new, SOM’s design establishes a grand civic space that celebrates the unique history of the Farley Building while evoking the vaulted concourse of the original Penn Station.
The connection of the monumental Farley Post Office Building, a Beaux-Arts landmark on Eighth Avenue, with New York City’s Penn Station, will extend the Penn Station complex west to Ninth Avenue and beyond, anchoring the burgeoning development of Manhattan’s Far West Side and providing a reinvigorated gateway to the entire Northeast Corridor and New York State.
The $1.6 billion project is being funded with $550 million from the state, $420 million from Amtrak, the MTA, the Port Authority and federal grants, and $630 million from the joint venture developers, Related Companies, Vornado Realty LP, and Skanska USA. Source and images, Courtesy of SOM.