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Boost in Ridership Leaves New York’s Penn Station Platforms Packed

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Many weekday commuters struggle to exit trains as the number of riders is increasing and construction compounds the problem

By
MELANIE GRAYCE WEST and
ANDREW TANGEL
March 20, 2017 4:13 p.m. ET

The morning rush has become the morning crush for some NJ Transit commuters arriving at New York Penn Station.

The scene plays out like this: When a train pulls in, commuters queue up for the doors and arrive on a platform that is both narrow and jammed, people shoved together elbow to elbow. To exit from the platform, commuters sometimes encounter an onslaught of passengers trying to catch another train or a crush of passengers from an arriving train.

Sometimes the escalator is going down instead of up, the narrow stairwells are packed single file or, in a truly frustrating situation, a new stairwell is gated.

The morning commute for thousands already ends at the much maligned Penn Station. Now, some say, the escape from Penn Station is worse, with platforms more jammed than ever as the number of commuters increases.

In 2016, average weekday boardings at Penn Station numbered 94,859 people, up from 92,314 in 2015 and 87,130 in 2014, according to Nancy Snyder, a NJ Transit spokeswoman. Each weekday, about 57,000 NJ Transit customers use Penn Station platforms between the hours of 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., according to Nancy Snyder.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/boost-in-ridership-leaves-new-yorks-penn-station-platforms-packed-1490040830

4 thoughts on “Boost in Ridership Leaves New York’s Penn Station Platforms Packed

  1. Just got to love New Yorkers. In their need to live in such magnificent squalor, they make a better life for those of us who keep our distance from this garbage. Better them than me and please keep up the good work.

  2. Janes we miss you and your sarcasm too..got to go..trains to catch…..

  3. A careful examination of Penn Station will reveal that the trains that arrive in Penn from Long Island are greeted by wide platforms, escalators, staircases, and less walking to get to subways. It will repeat itself when the Port Authority Bus Terminal gets relocated further from midtown.

    1. Jim I have taken both NJT and LIRR trains to NY Penn , and I greatly disagree with “Long Island are greeted by wide platforms, escalators, staircases, and less walking to get to subways” its just as bad or worse than NJT and the LIRR is the worst railroad in the world, its awful.

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