When U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy jovially called Andy Byford “train daddy” as he ushered the Amtrak Special Advisor to the podium at Penn Station this afternoon, nobody laughed.
There were crickets, and the din of traffic beyond, as Duffy greeted veteran correspondent Marcia Kramer and a sea of journalists just hours after the White House announced plans to take over Union Station in Washington, D.C.
Byford and Duffy were in New York City today to announce a major competition for Penn Station’s redesign. Byford said that there is now a $43 million grant in place to solicit a master developer that will oversee the monumental public-private partnership. The outcome of the design competition and the master developer will be announced in May 2026, and then preliminary design will start.
The duo also said they want shovels in the ground by the end of 2027—Byford called it a “very aggressive timeline.” Byford added that he will run “an open and fair competition with no preconceived notions of the outcome.”
“From today, firms interested in working on this project can officially start the process of becoming our master developer partner. Ladies and gentleman, [completely transforming] Penn Station, top to bottom, starts today,” Byford affirmed.
“We are going to move at the speed of Trump,” Duffy said. “This is not going to be a 20 or 30 year project.”
Byford said that, this fall, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) “will begin a service optimization study to evaluate ways to safely accommodate passenger growth throughout the tri-state region and maximize train capacity within the confines of the existing station footprint.”
Did They Talk About Through-Running?
Yes.
In describing the FRA’s forthcoming study, Byford said it’s necessary to “take into account the service patterns of the future” and “[embrace] the potential for through-running. In other words,” Byford continued, “when trains don’t just stop here and empty out, go back, or provide reverse service, but carry on in the direction in which they are traveling.”
Byford elaborated, “We can squeeze more trains per hour out if we use the station more efficiently.” He said the station can be more efficient “with some targeted changes at track level,” and that through-running “is the norm pretty much everywhere I can think of, certainly in London and Toronto.”
“So,” Byford went on, “by doing that study, we can inform the master developer of any changes that we want to make at track level.” Byford also said plans to bring Metro-North Railroad to Penn Station are still in the works.
When asked about how construction will impact the public’s commutes, Byford said, “I think New Yorkers will accept that in order to totally transform this place, there will need to be some changes along the way.”
Byford pointed to London Bridge Station, where he was the operations director of a train service company when it was being rebuilt. “Yes, there was some disruption [at London Bridge],” Byford said, “We had to reroute customers in order for them to migrate their way through the station while that work was being undertaken.”
“But as long as you get your signage and way finding right,” Byford said, and “as long as the customers feel that they know where to go, and the staff look out after them,” things will be manageable.
Did They Talk About Neoclassical Architecture?
No.
There was no explicit mention of which architectural style Byford and the Trump administration prefer for the Penn Station redesign.
And when asked whether or not if Trump wants to rename Penn Station “Trump Station,” Duffy admitted he thinks Trump Station “has a nice ring to it,” but his priority right now is getting shovels in the ground.
Moreover, Byford said plans to demolish Block 780 are now “on hold.”
Did They Talk About Moving Madison Square Garden?
Yes, but open-endedly.
In response to a question by Kramer, Byford said, “The competition we’re going to run will not specify whether Madison Square Garden stays in place, or whether it moves. I would rather run an open competition,” Byford affirmed.
“The whole point of this competition is to see where people’s ideas are. I’m aware of a number of ideas already,” Byford continued. “Some are predicated on the Garden staying put. Some are predicated on the Garden moving. I’m not going to opine on that. I would rather see what ideas are out there, and then we’ll deal with that at a later date.”
“During the competition, though, we will evaluate the various proposals against a series of criteria and, obviously, whether the Garden moves or stays put will be decided over time. We’ll take a look at what the pros and cons of that are, and what implications there are for cost and timeframe. So, as of right now, we’re making no assumptions on that.”
What Did They Say About Policing?
Toward the tail end of the press conference, Duffy was asked about the Trump administration’s plans to avert an impending railroad workers union strike, a question to which he replied: “As you see with Ukraine and Russia, and the number of wars he’s stopped like in Pakistan and India, [Trump] has this unique ability to bring people together [sic].”
“And so I’ll just say, stay tuned for how the President will engage to make sure America runs smoothly and more peacefully,” Duffy said.
But what does peace mean for this administration?
Duffy said he thinks too that “there’s a long way New York could go to make your trains and subway system a lot safer. I mean, just look at New York City, I mean, sorry, Washington D.C. and the progress the President has made in two weeks driving crime down [sic],” Duffy went on.
“A lot of folks in D.C. have said, ‘It actually feels nice to have less crime, I’m not afraid of being carjacked, or being burglarized and murdered. I can walk on the streets a little later at night because I’m not afraid.’ I think for all you here, you don’t have to live in a city where you don’t feel safe on your subway!”
After Duffy got in some fear mongering, he gave some more closing words, and the journalists poured out. Byford got an Amtrak train back to Washington, D.C. and this news editor boarded the C Train back to his office.
(It was fine.)
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