Note: The following, reprinted with permission of the author, is Samuel A. Turvey’s Statement to the Gateway Development Commission, as submitted on September 29, 2026.

Statement to Gateway Development Commission by Samuel Turvey, ReThinkNYC | Great work on starting the Gateway Tunnels–all to be congratulated many fold. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, especially after the weekend, but at some point someone is going to have to answer the question of “where will all that new Gateway Tunnel capacity go?”

The Gateway Tunnels, as we know, will accommodate 48 trains per hour under the Hudson. NJT seeks expanded one-seat access to Penn Station which will take up some of this capacity. Scranton-Penn Station service, which is under consideration, may also take up capacity. Plans exist to expand Empire/Albany service via Penn Station which may impact capacity at Penn Station. Penn Access will link four East Bronx stations to Penn Station, also with capacity implications.The DOT/FRA, New York Governor and most NY elected officials strongly oppose demolition of Block 780 and adjacent properties to build a new, superfluous, ruinously expensive, deep-cavern terminal track expansion at Penn Station.

ReThinkNY has posited that a non-demolition symmetrical through-running plan can handle 48 trains per hour at Penn Station from the Gateway Tunnels and 6 additional trains per hour from the east. New York Newsday’s Editorial Board, [the Daily News Editorial Board] and various other players are increasingly acknowledging that ReThinkNYC’s through-running ideas [be] given a fair shake and more than the cursory dismissal they have received in the past. We concur.  

The right path starts with fair and complete RTC simulations of how much capacity ReThinkNYC’s 12 track plan can service. We believe such a study–done with the same solution orientation and depth–as work done for Penn Access, Grand Central Madison, LIRR Third Track and, at present, the Empire Corridor expansion–should be done for ReThinkNYC’s 12 track plan.  

We know the Gateway Commission believes its charter limits it to Phase 1 projects which do not yet include the configuration of Penn Station. We know that Penn Transformation, while openly supportive of through- running, is limited to the footprint of the present station and through-running requires implementations outside the station. But none of us–despite jurisdictional limits–should stand by and watch a tunnel to a yet to be articulated solution to continue any longer. 

We request, publicly or privately if need be, that Gateway Commission leaders press for the resolution of the capacity gap between what the Gateway Tunnels can deliver and Penn Station can service. There are answers to this that are being left “blowing in the wind” and that is not an acceptable result and will wreak havoc if allowed to go on much longer. 

Capacity exercises, as all should be aware, uniformly use RTC calculations to lead the way in determining the feasibility of a given solution–yet that has not happened yet for through-running at Penn Station. This is in no one’s best interest and we ask your assistance in pressing for a real review of alternatives at Penn Station–these can include a full through-running solution/ReThinkNYC’s 12 track solution, a hybrid solution and even a terminal track expansion. 

The public deserves to see this work done which will cost a steep fraction of what is being spent on the Gateway Tunnels and Penn Transformation. 

The legacy of all leaders who help see this happen will be burnished greatly–we hope we can count on you for support–publicly preferred, privately accepted, you are more than influencers.

NOTE: The views expressed by our Guest Opinion writers are not necessarily those of Chelsea Community News.

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