Three Visions for a New Penn Station

The Trump administration made a smart choice in appointing the widely respected rail transit expert Andy Byford to oversee the redevelopment of New York’s depressingly discombobulated Pennsylvania Station. Revamping Penn is a political, bureaucratic, and engineering obstacle course. But if anyone has the experience and skill to navigate it, it’s Byford, who has held senior public transit roles in London, Sydney, Toronto, and New York. His appointment raises hopes for transforming the subterranean station into a functional through-running hub within a more decentralized, regionally integrated, commuter rail system—rather than the chronically jammed terminal that it is today. Byford will serve as a special advisor to Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, and work closely with the U.S. Department of Transportation on the project.