An iconic train station, over 120 years old, could be getting an $8 billion makeover. Amtrak announced a timeline for the project last year, and now design renderings have been published showing what the new station could look like.
The historic station in question is New York Penn Station. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, alongside Amtrak Special Advisor Andy Byford, are helming the project. The new renderings show the “once-in-a-generation” redesign by Penn Transformation Partners (PTP), which is a joint venture led by construction companies Halmar and Skanska.
Breakdown Of The New Renderings Showing Penn Station Overhaul
The June 8 press release from Amtrak says the new Penn Station concourse will be of “stone and bronze with soaring ceilings.” The Trump-led rebuild, which will cost between $7 and $8 billion, aims to channel the classic building’s design before its 1963 demolition and to have double the floor space of Grand Central Terminal.
Amtrak outlined five major improvements that the new transformation will do:
- Construct a grand entrance on Eighth Avenue to a new train hall
- Replace cramped, decrepit walkways with open, beautiful concourses
- Expand track capacity, including the introduction of at least limited through-running on the regional rail network
- Enable new retail, better wayfinding, and other passenger experience improvements, all while maintaining the iconic Madison Square Garden with a new cladding for a classic look, and
- Improve the station’s existing subterranean structure
The redesign aims to turn the station, which sees 600,000 daily commuters, into a single-level concourse that will also feature a presidential seal with President Donald Trump’s name. Trump has ordered construction to begin in 2027, with completion date eyed for 2034, according to Penn Transformation. But to understand the planned transformation, it’s important to understand Penn Station’s history.
Penn Station Redesign Harkens Back To The Original Concourse
Ground was first broken for Penn Station in 1904, and the station opened to the public in 1910. The original concourse was designed by McKim, Mead & White. And the construction caused problems of its own. Several midtown blocks needed to be leveled, which displaced thousands of residents — mostly African-Americans.
By the mid-1950s, the Pennsylvania Railroad was losing money as other modes of transportation, such as air travel and interstate highways, took ridership away. Railroad executives put up the property’s air rights. That’s when demolition occurred between 1963 and 1966, destroying the original building, putting the station underground, and making way for the New York Knicks’ home, Madison Square Garden, and the 29-story skyscraper, Two Pennsylvania Plaza.
A narrative by Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), posted in Amtrak’s Penn Station file dump, described the 1960s demolition as an “act of extraordinary civic vandalism.”
Duffy in the press release described the current station as “dirty” and “falling-apart.”
“The Golden Age of Transportation is coming thanks to President Trump. He had a vision to transform this dirty, falling-apart station in the middle of his hometown into a state-of-the-art transit hub that millions can enjoy for generations to come. American families deserve a safe, efficient, and clean commute to their homes, jobs, and churches,” Duffy said.
Peter E. Cipriano, CEO of Penn Transformation Partners, said the station serves a “gateway to opportunity… but for too long this special place has been derelict and dispiriting – forever debated but never delivered.”
As of now, though, funding for the project remains murky.
Where Funding Is Coming From For The Penn Station Overhaul
The Trump administration took control of the project from the MTA in 2025 and gave oversight to Amtrak, which owns the station. Amtrak officials have said they hope the federal government will cover most of the cost, but have not clarified how much of the planned funding would require congressional approval.
“My strategy, absolutely, is to maximize the federal contribution such that the gap to be filled is as small as possible,” said Byford at a technical briefing with the press on June 8.
Following the move, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the state would withdraw the $1 billion it had previously committed to the project. Byford said he recently met with Hochul in an effort to persuade her to restore the funding.
“ I want[ed] to show her the model so that she can really see this is what you’d be getting and hopefully maybe she would want to change her position on funding,” Byford said.
Byford also suggested that New York City taxpayers could help fund the project in exchange for improvements to public spaces surrounding Penn Station. Some funding has been awarded, however. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) took over Penn Station’s redevelopment project in April 2025 and awarded Amtrak $43 million in federal funding to accelerate the effort.
The planned exterior of Penn Station.
Then, in May 2026, officials selected Penn Transformation Partners as the project’s master developer and committed another $200 million toward design work and permitting as the overhaul moves forward. In addition, DOT is investing nearly $5 billion in Amtrak’s Northeast corridor, which will include Penn Station. So, while funding remains up in the air, travelers will have to wait and see if and how this project will move forward.
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