Amtrak Gets on Board at Moynihan Station

NEW YORK CITY-Following up on last September’s signing of a broad general agreement, Amtrak and the state have signed a memorandum of understanding for the quasi-public rail passenger company to move its operations into the Moynihan Station project here. Gov. David Paterson announced the MOU late Wednesday, on the heels of news that phase 1 of the project to transform the James A. Farley Building into a rail facility would receive $83 million in federal stimulus funds.

Paterson says in a statement that the MOU, along with the $83-million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant from the US Department of Transportation, “is what will allow development of the terminal to move forward. Finally, the State will be able to embark upon phase one of this project, which is good news for our construction workers, good news for the state and good news for the thousands of passengers that crowd Penn Station on a daily basis.” Details of the MOU were not disclosed.

The TIGER grant covers slightly less than one-third of the reported $267 million cost of phase 1, which will entail transportation-related improvements to the below-grade rail infrastructure under the Farley Building and Penn Station. The two properties are located across Eighth Avenue from one another. In the project’s second phase, a new rail facility would be constructed within the Farley building, only about 20% of which is currently used by the US Postal Service as its main facility in New York City.