Amtrak Penn Station redesign: three teams make the shortlist

Amtrak Penn Station redesign is entering its next stage after Amtrak yesterday named three teams that will stay in the running to become the project’s master developer, as reported by Trains. The effort is set up as a public-private partnership (P3) aimed at transforming the station’s train hall.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Last August, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Amtrak special advisor Andy Byford rolled out the competition and called for a master developer to lead the redevelopment. Amtrak said the winning P3 will be announced in May 2026, followed by preliminary design work. Duffy and Byford have said they want shovels in the ground by the end of 2027—timing also noted in Railway Supply’s overview of the project schedule.

Amtrak Penn Station redesign shortlist: the three master developers

Amtrak’s shortlist includes Penn Forward Now, led by Fengate Capital; Penn Transformation Now, by Halmar International; and Grand Penn Partners, by Macquarie Capital. Each group has framed its concept around different ideas for architecture, circulation, and the future of Madison Square Garden.

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Penn Forward Now, Penn Transformation Now, and Grand Penn Partners

Fengate is a North American infrastructure investor and developer founded in 2006. The Penn Forward Now team lists SOM, ARUP, and Grimshaw as partners. ARUP was awarded an Amtrak contract in 2022 to develop design options for new tracks, platforms, and concourses at Penn Station, and the group has not yet shared renderings.

Halmar International, a New York–based heavy civil construction management firm, is working with PAU and ASTM, an Italian group. As described before the shortlisting, the PAU/ASTM proposal would keep Madison Square Garden in place and add a modern stone facade proportioned to respect the original Penn Station.

Macquarie Capital is a unit of Macquarie Group, a global financial services firm. Under the Macquarie plan, elements of the original Beaux-Arts Penn Station designed by McKim, Mead & White would be reconstructed, and Madison Square Garden would be relocated across Seventh Avenue.

FRA study and through-running capacity questions

Alongside the developer competition, a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) study underway will “evaluate ways to safely accommodate passenger growth throughout the tri-state region and maximize train capacity within the confines of the existing station footprint.” Byford has previously said he is receptive to implementing full through-running service at Penn Station and relocating MSG.

ReThinkNYC, which has long advocated for through-running at Penn Station, said in a statement today that it is “hopeful” the FRA study will use “dynamic and industry standard railroad capacity modeling software—generally agreed to be RTC by Berkeley Simulation Software—and show that the neighborhood does not have to be demolished to accomplish satisfactory capacity increases needed at Penn Station with the advent of the pending Gateway Tunnels.”

Renaissance Rails, led by Richard Cameron and Fred Knapp, did not appear among the shortlisted P3 groups. Still, Cameron is credited with first championing the push to rebuild the original Beaux-Arts Penn Station—an idea later adopted by Justin Shubow and Washburn.

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