Why are so many train stations called Penn?

Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original owner, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The original Pennsylvania Station was an ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style.



People Also Ask

The Penn Station name extends from the fact that the old Pennsylvania Railroad built many of these stations back in the early 20th century. At that time, different railroad companies typically used different stations, especially in major cities or towns, so the station usually took the name of the company.

MORE DETAILS

Completed in 1910, the original Penn Station was intended to symbolize not only its powerful corporate owner but also New York's status as the most vital city in a nation that was becoming a political and economic superpower.

MORE DETAILS

Penn Station is named for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), its builder and original owner, and shares its name with several stations in other cities. The original Pennsylvania Station was an ornate station building designed by McKim, Mead, and White and considered a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style.

MORE DETAILS

In the early 1990s, U.S. senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan began championing a plan to rebuild a replica of the historic Penn Station, in which he had shined shoes during the Great Depression. He proposed rebuilding the station in the Farley Post Office building.

MORE DETAILS

Moynihan Train Hall and New York Penn Station operate as one complex. Though Amtrak maintains a presence at Penn Station, Moynihan Train Hall is our new home in New York City. You can reach both stations from the platforms of Tracks 5 - 21.

MORE DETAILS

Grand Central Terminal is spread over 49 acres, has 44 platforms and 67 tracks on two levels. It is the world's largest train station by number of platforms and area occupied.

MORE DETAILS

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It is 58 characters long and in Welsh this means St. Maria church in the white hazel forest near the rapid whirlpool beside St. Tysilio of the red cave.

MORE DETAILS

Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation, with the federal government as majority stockholder. The Amtrak Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Amtrak is operated as a for-profit company, rather than a public authority.

MORE DETAILS

By the time the structure was set to be demolished, it was dilapidated due to poor maintenance and alterations, and the architectural richness of the building likely went unnoticed by the vast number of commuters who walked through it daily.

MORE DETAILS

At the same time, Madison Square Garden, a high-rise office and sports complex that still stands today, was built in its place. Though the Penn Station terminal was demolished, the original 1900s tunnels, tracks, platforms and electric traction continue to be used today.

MORE DETAILS