Meeting someone who is arriving at Penn Station?

[Dan]

Hi there,

Im coming to NYC in the next few months and am meeting someone at Penn Station. They are catching an Amtrak train from Albany to Penn Station. I will already be in NYC and am wondering where the best place to meet her in Penn station is? Is there a specific esculator she will come up or a specific waiting place where she will walk too? Sorry ive never been to NYC so unsure of the system at Penn Station.

But any suggestions on that? Help would really be appreciated =)

 

[Devil's Advocate]

The only system they have at NYP is the chaos system. Or at least that's how it looked when I was there. It's almost like they intentionally hide information until the last possible moment.

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Penn station is large and very busy, with several train operators on different levels, but please do not be worried. For operational reasons one cannot know exactly which platform a train will arrive at, but there is a large display board in the main Amtrak area which will tell you. The simplest way to meet would be to nominate a particular place inside the station... My suggestion would be the Krispy Kreem doughnut shop, which pretty much every Penn station employee would know, if either of you needed to ask directions to it. I find the station entrance on 34th street is easy, just walk straight ahead to find Amtrak at the far end. This entrance is opposite the large Pennsylvania Hotel, as a pointer.

Ed

 

[Shanghai]

Good suggestion, Ed. I often meet people by the Krispy Kreme donut store.

It is on the mail level of the station a few steps behind the Information Booth

behind the escalator to Madison Square Garden.

 

[Ocala Mike]

Sad but true that there is no single iconic "meeting spot" at NYP. I'm thinking that the phrase "meet me at the clock by the information booth at Grand Central" must have been used millions of times back in the day.

 

[caravanman]

You say donut, I say doughnut, good job you and I are not trying to meet up, as I can't spell Kreme either!

Ed

 

[me_little_me]

Good suggestion, Ed. I often meet people by the Krispy Kreme donut store.

It is on the mail level of the station a few steps behind the Information Booth

behind the escalator to Madison Square Garden.

I meet people IN a Krispy Kreme shop. Then I arrive really early so I can do my part for the economy. If the person I am meeting is late, I can also console myself with lunch (two plain doughnuts - for diet reasons - surrounding a Boston Cream doughnut).

Where I live, though, I never go to KK. They cheat. They make the doughnuts at another KK 20 miles away, bring them in, then reheat them and turn on the "hot" sign. What a comedown from freshly made, and honestly hot, doughnuts. Makes one want to go back to Dunkin Donuts!

 

[afigg]

NY Penn station can be very confusing. Just follow the signs saying Amtrak to the Amtrak area on the west end of the upper level. The suggestions about meeting in the Amtrak area at the Krispy Kreme or under the large status board are good ones.

To get some orientation and an overview of the layout, here are diagrams with a downloadable PDF file of the layout of NY Penn Station. You should see the Amtrak label on the left side of the Upper Level floor plan.

What is odd, now that I think about it, is that there is no website specifically for NY Penn Station that I can find. Amtrak should have one with diagrams of the interior, way finding information how to get from X to Y, listing where the stores are. DC Union Station has a website, although the website is hosted by the Union Station development authority, not Amtrak. There should be an equivalent website for NYP, one that easily can be found with a Google search for NY Penn Station.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

Hi there,

Im coming to NYC in the next few months and am meeting someone at Penn Station. They are catching an Amtrak train from Albany to Penn Station. I will already be in NYC and am wondering where the best place to meet her in Penn station is? Is there a specific esculator she will come up or a specific waiting place where she will walk too? Sorry ive never been to NYC so unsure of the system at Penn Station.

But any suggestions on that? Help would really be appreciated =)

I commuted to/from NYP for many years. A lot depends on the time of day as well. At what time are you supposed to meet them? Avoid the rush hours (6-10am and 4-8pm on most weekdays, and even earlier on Friday afternoons). It can also depend on where on the platform you exit the train and on what stairwell/escalator/elevator you go up. Some lead to the mezzanine level. Others lead to the upstairs level with the big sign board. Some on the far east side (and lower track #s) lead to the new NJ Transit waiting area. Be careful. I don't recall where the Krispy Kreme shop is located. I have my own little set of landmarks there.

 

[smee]

You may want to meet them at the one and only McDonalds which is located by the LIRR ticket booth. This way there will be no confusion as there is only one McDonalds and one LIRR ticket booth/counter. It is on the lower level, but as was pointed out, depending on where they exit the train they can arrive in several different places within Penn station.

 

[alex]

I always say to meet under the giant Departures board. Everyone will be standing about 10 feet back looking up at it but nobody else will actually be standing underneath it. Anyone in the station will know where it is and the cab line is usually shorter on that side of the station.

 

[the_traveler]

Since they will be arriving from Albany, they will arrive on track 5, 6, 7, or 8. (Those are the only ones that connect to the West Side Connector.) My suggestion is to meet them near the Club Acela - which is near those tracks!

 

[tp49]

I always say to meet under the giant Departures board. Everyone will be standing about 10 feet back looking up at it but nobody else will actually be standing underneath it. Anyone in the station will know where it is and the cab line is usually shorter on that side of the station.

This. Whenever I meet people in Penn Station I tell them to meet under the giant departures board (used to be the solari board). Easy to find, fairly central and every employee in the station knows where it is.

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

Where I live, though, I never go to KK. They cheat. They make the doughnuts at another KK 20 miles away, bring them in, then reheat them and turn on the "hot" sign. What a comedown from freshly made, and honestly hot, doughnuts. Makes one want to go back to Dunkin Donuts!

At least in my area, Dunkin Donuts stopped making the donuts in their individual shops years ago. They are all made in some central factory, and later trucked into their stores.

 

[AutoTrDvr]

I always say to meet under the giant Departures board. Everyone will be standing about 10 feet back looking up at it but nobody else will actually be standing underneath it. Anyone in the station will know where it is and the cab line is usually shorter on that side of the station.

This. Whenever I meet people in Penn Station I tell them to meet under the giant departures board (used to be the solari board). Easy to find, fairly central and every employee in the station knows where it is.

The only concern is ensuring that whomever you are meeting knows to come all the way up to the top level of the station. Depending on the the area on the track in which they disembark the train, they could be led up a stairwell that goes to the mezzanine level (or the new NJ Transit waiting area), rather than the upper level, where the big board is. They could find themselves on their way to the LIRR or the NYC Subway, if not careful.

 

[Joel]

Well this enquiry can be a bit odd, I am looking for some kind of "timetable" of Penn Station. That means, every train that departs/arrives, but placed in time order, such as:

01:34 AM departs train #4324 to Pittsburgh

01:43 AM arrives train #333 from Raleigh

01:45 AM departs NJ transit train #999 to Atlantic City

Is there such timetable?

 

[AutoTrDvr]

Well this enquiry can be a bit odd, I am looking for some kind of "timetable" of Penn Station. That means, every train that departs/arrives, but placed in time order, such as:

01:34 AM departs train #4324 to Pittsburgh

01:43 AM arrives train #333 from Raleigh

01:45 AM departs NJ transit train #999 to Atlantic City

Is there such timetable?

Unfortunately, not in print. The only time you would see this is on the TV monitors and the big board, and only for departures/arrivals that are pending (i.e. within the present hour or so). Otherwise, each different rail service (NJ Transit/Amtrak/LIRR) all maintain their own printed time tables but only for their own trains. For NJ Transit and Amtrak, track numbers for originating/arriving trains are usually not posted/announced until 10 minutes prior to departure/arrival.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

For NJ Transit and Amtrak, track numbers for originating/arriving trains are usually not posted/announced until 10 minutes prior to departure/arrival.

In addition to the lack of a quality map this brief last-minute information window is a critical flaw in how what's left of New York's Penn Station is run today, at least from the perspective of uninitiated passengers departing NYP. I've never felt as iffy about missing my next train as I was at NYP, and that includes train trips in countries that don't speak English. Kind of absurd in my view, but I guess being ugly and confusing is just part of the "charm" of NYP to some folks. :lol:

 

[AutoTrDvr]

For NJ Transit and Amtrak, track numbers for originating/arriving trains are usually not posted/announced until 10 minutes prior to departure/arrival.

In addition to the lack of a quality map this brief last-minute information window is a critical flaw in how what's left of New York's Penn Station is run today, at least from the perspective of uninitiated passengers departing NYP. I've never felt as iffy about missing my next train as I was at NYP, and that includes train trips in countries that don't speak English. Kind of absurd in my view, but I guess being ugly and confusing is just part of the "charm" of NYP to some folks. :lol:

Actually, I don't recall "arriving" tracks ever being posted. They may be "announced" on occasion by the station announcer, but I think the few "thru" trains (NEC/Acela) are posted as "departures." And all NJ Transit trains are "departures." Yeah, the 10 minute thing was uggggggly, especially during rush hours. As soon as the track appeared on the monitors, you'd see this swarm toward the stairwells.I learned to figure out where the NJ Transit trains were being staged, simply by visiting each platform and checking the train in advance. Most were staged on tracks 1-4. Sometimes track 13. On odd occasions, they mingled with the Amtrak trains on 5-11. You go down the stairwell, and you look for the electronic sign on the train, that indicated the route. If you find your train, you stand in front of the doors until they open, usually before the track is posted/announced. I think I got to within 80% accuracy/success with this method. Every now and then, they'd skunk you by putting that one train on track 13 when you were waiting near 1-4. :angry:

It's funny. I do pass through NYP at least twice a year now, and more often on Christmas Day. I see all the "newbies" and tourists struggling to get through their experience. It's nice to "pay it forward" and help them out. I once had a guy ask me (at 6pm on Christmas Day), "Why don't they have seats in the mezzanine?" :lol: :wacko: :lol: :giggle: :lol:

 

[the_traveler]

It's due to having 3-4 railroads using the same station at the same time, with sometimes trains only 3-5 minutes apart, they can (and do) switch track if one platform is occupied. That's why they announce the track numbers 10 minutes prior to departure! I'm almost certain it was similar at other large stations back in the 1940's and 1950's.

If (for example) the Crescent is late and usually arrives on (say) track #13, but it is occupied, would you rather sit on a stopped train for track #13 to become available, or come in on track #11 today and get off the train?

I think most passengers would chose the second option!

 

[AutoTrDvr]

It's due to having 3-4 railroads using the same station at the same time, with sometimes trains only 3-5 minutes apart, they can (and do) switch track if one platform is occupied. That's why they announce the track numbers 10 minutes prior to departure! I'm almost certain it was similar at other large stations back in the 1940's and 1950's.

Oh, I understand, totally! And, to complicate maters, sometimes, NJ Transit uses Sunnyside Yard to turn their trains around as well. So those usually have to go to the higher track nos (5-13). I'm just sayin'... it could get uugggggllly with people rushing the stairs (especially the fixed stairs - i.e. non-escalators)! The NJTR 6:16p "Midtown Direct" train to Dover (NJ) was a 9 car (Comet IIs & IIIs) consist pulled (at the time) by a single ALP-44. It almost always got Track 13 due to its length. It could never get 1-4.

 

[Eric S]

There are at least a couple smaller monitors that post Amtrak arrivals and departures. (Perhaps that's not what you are referring to, though.)

 

[AlanB]

And, to complicate maters, sometimes, NJ Transit uses Sunnyside Yard to turn their trains around as well. So those usually have to go to the higher track nos (5-13).

Not just "sometimes", pretty much all day long NJT has trains that run out to Sunnyside to loop around and come back in. NJT also typically has at least a dozen or more trains sitting in Amtrak's coach yard between the morning rush and the evening rush. It's the only way that they can get enough trains through Penn to even have any hope of accommodating the crush of people.

A through train clears the platform faster than one that must be turned, that is to say change ends. So many more NJT trains either go to Sunnyside for storage or to be looped and returned to Penn several minutes later.

 

[Train2104]

Meeting at Penn is difficult, to say the least. The arrivals board certainly helps for someone coming in on Amtrak. Otherwise I would use one of the following:

If the person is not familiar with NYP: the Amtrak information booth, the NJT customer service office, the McDonalds by LIRR track 17

If the person is familiar with NYP, use some obscure location such as the southern end of the Exit Concourse, gate to the West End Concourse, the top of the Hilton Corridor stairs, or the end of the East End concourse.

 

[SubwayNut]

There are at least a couple smaller monitors that post Amtrak arrivals and departures. (Perhaps that's not what you are referring to, though.)

They list track arrivals, on airport style monitors beneath the smaller departure monitos for Amtrak and I bet there is one somewhere in the New Jersey Transit Concourses and LIRR Concourses for their train arrivals. I'll have to look tomorrow, I will have a lot of time to wonder around between boxing my bike and the actual departure of the LSL. I know that the central information booth in Grand Central has one for Metro-North arrivals.

The monitors if your taking one of the Thru Northeast Regionals or the Vermonter, there are a great place (at least were) to get your track assignment a bit earlier. A few weeks ago though we were meeting someone getting of the 5:45pm arriving weekday Acela (time might be off by a few minutes, don't feel like looking it up) which continues up to Boston, an extremely nervous traveler who had never been to Penn Station. A train broke down in one of the tubes going under the East River and the main Amtrak Departures hall filled to the brim with people because all the rush hour NJT departures were on 'Stand By' as in delayed, they finally got the train out within 20 minutes and our friends train arrived 20 minutes late. I was standing looking at an arrivals board monitoring it for a track number and they announced the train has arrived in the station but didn't post a track number. They finally did when the train was boarding Boston-bound passengers as I was in line at the information window to ask for the track. At that point the friend we were meeting called to say she was already upstairs and I luckily know Penn Station well enough to know exactly where from her tiny description. It still took us a good few minutes to push our way through the packed like sardines concourse and find her.

That moment made me wonder if Amtrak is now waiting to post the arrival tracks of the Boston-Washington thru trains until they are ready for boarding to avoid people looking at the arrivals monitors to get to the tracks in advance. I'll have to ask my friend who rides up to Westerly frequently to see if his arrivals monitor strategy no longer works. He also always goes to some random entrance to avoid the line-up and never has a problem.

I don't take Amtrak out of New York very often (if the fares were cheeper I would usually just take the bus $15 or $50 and up?) on the corridor to know myself, and when I do, almost always on the Empire Service where the track options are few.