Andy Byford, who has run rail agencies on three continents, has agreed to take over the renovation and possible expansion of Penn Station, New York’s most tangled transportation, real estate, and political conundrum.
Byford sealed the deal after a meeting at the White House Thursday with President Trump, the onetime New York developer who has taken a special interest in both the future of Penn Station and other Manhattan transit issues, such as congestion pricing, which he opposes.
“The president has made it clear to everyone he wants to get this done,” said an official familiar with the administration’s thinking.
Best known to New Yorkers as the “train daddy” who ran New York’s subways and buses before a falling-out with then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, Byford has most recently been working for Amtrak, the owner of Penn Station, running its efforts to expand high-speed rail service.
But the Trump administration has curtailed federal support for high-speed rail and at the same time has taken over from the MTA management of the renovation of Penn Station and put Amtrak in charge. Amtrak was already in charge of the interrelated question of how to expand service in the next decade when new tunnels are completed under the Hudson River.
Byford, who has described the rebuilding of Penn Station as a “golden opportunity” to transform commuter rail service in New York and New Jersey, has run rail services on three continents—in London, Toronto, Sydney, and New York. In London, he completed the Elizabeth Line, which runs from one side of London, through the center city, to the other side.
In New York, he was widely admired for improving subway and bus service but departed, just as COVID struck, after a dispute with Cuomo, whom he accused of micromanaging the Transit Authority.
As “Penn Station Daddy,” Byford will face several immediate challenges:
* The Trump administration has said it wants to proceed with Penn Station rebuilding as a public-private partnership, in much the way LaGuardia Airport and some of Amtrak’s other stations have been rebuilt.
That entails the selection of a private-sector developer to manage and help fund the project in exchange for long-term revenue. Halmar International, the global infrastructure company, has circulated its plan for Penn Station, but how the Trump administration will make the selection of a master developer has not been described yet.
* Amtrak and New Jersey Transit have said they need to double service under the Hudson by the next decade. Their favored plan appears to be an expansion of the station, which would entail destruction of the block to the south.
But advocacy groups have argued this is unnecessary and that an increase in service can be achieved by running LIRR and NJ Transit trains more quickly through the station and on to destinations on either side.
Byford spoke supportively of such a plan two years ago at a forum by the advocacy group ReTHINK NYC, which has lobbied since to bring Byford in to, at least, resolve whether “through running” is a viable alternative to tearing down the block south of Penn Station.
* There are multiple architectural plans for a rebuilt Penn Station. Some call for moving Madison Square Garden, others would rebuild around it. The owner of the Garden, James Dolan, has rejected proposals to move, but the City Council last year extended his permit to operate above the train station for only five years, a relative blink of the eye in real estate terms.
Byford has said it would be preferable to move the Garden, but whether he or his onetime developer boss, the President, can assemble a deal that appeals to Dolan is down the track.
At a recent press gaggle, Trump expressed skepticism that Dolan would move. “I think Jim probably likes his location sitting on top of all the trains,” Trump said. “I can’t blame him, necessarily.”
* Much of the neighborhood around Penn Station remains under a state redevelopment plan that originally called for 10 supertall office towers, many of them on property owned by Vornado Realty Trust, the area’s largest property owner. But with office use in flux and interest rates high that plan has been stalled.
Originally, Governor Cuomo planned to skim payments from these new towers to help fund the reconstruction of Penn Station. But Governor Hochul said she was “decoupling” the development project from funding Penn Station and, after the federal government took over Penn reconstruction from the MTA, she said she was grateful they would pay the whole cost, which they say they never said.
Hochul also says she opposes the demolition of the block south of Penn Station.
State officials declined to comment on Byford’s appointment, but they noted that it was, as one put it, “one small ingredient in a big stew” of decisions and tensions between the state and the Trump administration.
These include Trump’s continuing effort to force the state to rescind congestion pricing and the argument between the MTA and Amtrak over Amtrak’s decision to shutter one of the tunnels under the east river for repairs, rather than conduct the repairs on nights and weekends as the MTA’s Long Island Rail Road prefers.
As head of New York’s transit system, Byford got high marks for improving service and engaging with riders. Two years ago, speaking to the ReThink NYC forum, Byford suggested that the rebuilding of Penn Station was a moment to make major changes
“This is a golden opportunity,” he said, stressing he was speaking for himself and not Amtrak. “It’s not just about building something that’s more aesthetically pleasing—important as that is, Penn Station is kind of an embarrassment—but you can’t fix it by just putting in a few light-boxes, by just heightening the ceilings, by just widening a few corridors.
“If we’re going to do all of that, why not take the opportunity to fix the damn thing once and for all, which is, I’m going to say: get rid of the pillars, which means move MSG, but at the very least, do something with the track configuration to enable through-running.”
The MTA, whose ejection from managing the renovation of Penn station cleared the way for the Byford appointment, welcomed his return to New York.
“This is good news,” said John J. McCarthy, the MTA’s chief of policy and external relations, “Governor Hochul has welcomed the Trump Administration’s decision to step up and make good on its commitment to advance and finance this project. We look forward to working with Andy Byford, who understands the importance of mass transit and was a strong supporter throughout our battle to implement congestion pricing in New York.”
Even before any official announcement from Washington, The City Club of New York applauded Byford’s appointment.
“The stakes are enormous,” said the civic group, headed by Layla Law-Gisiko, a longtime advocate for protecting the block just south of the station from the wrecking ball. “The current expansion plan would cost $16.7 billion and require demolishing an entire city block, while through-running advocates maintain similar capacity could be achieved within the existing footprint at a fraction of the cost.”
“Andy Byford has seen firsthand how through-running transforms urban rail systems,” said Liam Blank, Chair of the City Club’s Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. “His experience delivering the Elizabeth Line in London—which carries 700,000 daily passengers through the heart of the city—brings exactly the operational expertise Penn Station planning has lacked. We now have a leader who understands that doubling capacity doesn’t require doubling the station’s footprint.”
“This is a golden opportunity.” —Andy Byford, the “train daddy,” on the redevelopment of Penn Station