1. My Moynihan take kind of both-sides-es #TransitTwitter.
I think the train hall looks very nice, and I can't wait to see it in person. Despite that it cost a sum that should have paid for it plus new Hudson tunnels, and still suffers from balkanization, I will take the win. https://twitter.com/StreetsblogNYC/status/1345606900675710977

2. I also think it's unfair to say it doesn't increase capacity at all; the train hall contains new platform escalators. I am sympathetic that they will be out of the way for a lot of people including many @Amtrak passengers, but I think they will help clear rush crowds.

3. This leads me to my next point, a lot of the folks who claim Moynihan doesn't increase capacity jump to the wrong conclusion regarding what actually will. It is not more station tracks or a larger station footprint. @StreetsblogNYC @WNYC @Colleenallreds @cegoldbaum

4. This 1980 FRA report shows the platforms had capacity for 86 trains per hour (tph), and that's assuming fairly long dwells. Just prior to COVID, they handled a maximum of ~60 tph. https://twitter.com/Union_Tpke/status/1344691405114011648?s=20

5. This is the full study. 86 tph over 21 tracks works out to an average of ~15 minutes per train. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Northeast_Corridor_Intercity_and_Commute/KA88z4a0esYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22platform+10%22+%2212-car%22+%22penn+station%22&pg=PA40&printsec=frontcover

6. Note that it finds tracks 1-4, which form a stub-end terminal serving only New Jersey, are capable of serving 20 trains per hour; thus each track processing a train that has to make a reversal in an average of 12 minutes.

7. This 2014 Amtrak study claims, reasonably, that the rate at which passengers can clear or access platforms is the major constraint on processing trains at New York Penn Station.
http://ww.irum.org/20140807_Amtrak_NYP_Thru_Running_Assessment.pdf

8. It claims operations could be cleaned up so that a train could process on average in 12 minutes. That is 105 tph across 21 tracks, 17 of which support at least "bastard" through running i.e. a train comes from or goes to a yard.

9. The Amtrak study was done long after the Central and West End Concourses were completed to the LIRR tracks, but before the West End Concourse was extended to track 5 and Moynihan added stairs to tracks 5-16.

10. Yes, train lengths & travelers have increased since 1980, and intercity trains need more time than suburban ones, but there are more stairwells, and procedures should have gotten faster! In 2017/2018, the average peak-hour train had ~1,000 passengers.
https://www.nymtc.org/Portals/0/Pdf/Hub%20Bound/2018%20Hub%20Bound/DM_TDS_Hub_Bound_Travel_2018.pdf?ver=2020-01-29-145050-030#page=51

11. The Moynihan project documents show that the least-efficient platform should now move at least 700 passengers per minute. That should clear 2 simultaneously arriving trains within a few minutes. Most will be able to handle much more than that.
https://cdn.esd.ny.gov/subsidiaries_projects/msdc/Data/NEPA/04_4%20StationPedCirculation.pdf

12. Moynihan-Phase I especially-and the 33rd Street passageway projects have actually materially improved New York Penn Station. It is now time for @Amtrak @LIRR and @NJTRANSIT to revisit their assumptions for day-to-day operations and where to spend their capital money.

13. It is also time for the press to hold the railroads accountable for doing better. The claim that Penn Station's tracks are at capacity doesn't hold water-even when using the railroads' own very conservative starting points. @NYDNTransit @NYTMetro @Lackawanna_Rail

14. There is actually a lot of space on the lower concourse level. A tiny fraction is actually open to passengers. With the Farley Building now redone, the back offices should go there and more should be opened up. https://cdn.esd.ny.gov/subsidiaries_projects/msdc/Data/NEPA/04_4a%20Figure%204_4-1.pdf

15. One very good project that should get funded? Completion of the Central Concourse, now estimated, along with associated work, at $340 million.
https://njtplans.com/downloads/capital-project-sheets/NJ_Transit_Capital_Plan_Project_Sheets.pdf#page=170

16. However, it should connect to the platforms with stairs and not escalators; stairs allow two-way flow and are cheaper. They work just fine for tracks 13-21, they should work equally well for 1-12.
https://d2g63oyneaimm8.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/board/meeting_minutes/2020_05_13_OpenSess.pdf#page=89