The long-stalled rebuild of New York Penn Station took a concrete step forward in March 2026, when Amtrak and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy named a private master developer to lead the roughly $7 billion overhaul of the nation’s busiest rail hub.

The selected team — branded “Penn Transformation Partners,” built around the contractors Halmar and Skanska — emerged from a shortlist of three qualified bidders. Its job is to deliver a modernized station with wider concourses, better sightlines, improved accessibility and more daylight, replacing the cramped, low-ceilinged warren beneath Madison Square Garden that has drawn complaints for half a century.

A federal takeover

The project’s structure changed dramatically in April 2025, when the Trump administration removed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as lead agency and handed control to Amtrak, which owns the station. The handoff came with a clawback of roughly $120 million in federal funding that had been awarded to the MTA and Amtrak under the Biden administration the previous November.

Governor Kathy Hochul framed the federal takeover as a win, saying the use of federal dollars would save New York taxpayers more than $1 billion the state had set aside for the project. The state has since redirected that money to other priorities.

To run the effort, Secretary Duffy tapped Andy Byford — the former president of New York City Transit, nicknamed “Train Daddy” — as a special advisor to Amtrak’s board overseeing the redevelopment. Byford has said he wants the station to “ooze excellence.”

The timeline and the money

Federal officials have set a target of beginning construction by the end of 2027, with preliminary design and federal environmental review (NEPA) running from the summer of 2026 through 2027. To jumpstart the work, the Department of Transportation awarded Amtrak nearly $43 million in grant funding, and Duffy has testified that the administration intends to commit billions more toward the rebuild.

Duffy has repeatedly promised speed, saying the work would “move at the speed of Trump” rather than dragging on for decades.

Madison Square Garden stays

One major design question is settled: the chosen plan keeps Madison Square Garden in its current location atop the station rather than relocating the arena, a more ambitious and costly idea that had circulated under earlier state-led proposals. Working around the Garden constrains what is possible below, but it removes a multibillion-dollar wildcard from the schedule.

What’s unresolved

Plenty remains open. The full federal funding commitment has not been finalized, the master developer’s detailed design still has to clear environmental review, and questions linger over the station’s eventual name and the broader plan for the surrounding blocks. But after years of competing visions and stalled state efforts, the project now has a developer, a lead agency, a budget and a construction target — the most definition Penn Station has had in a generation.

Verification

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is now in charge of the Penn Station rebuild?
Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, took over as lead agency in April 2025, replacing the MTA, at the direction of the Trump administration. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Amtrak named a private master developer team — branded 'Penn Transformation Partners,' built around contractors Halmar and Skanska — in March 2026. Andy Byford, the former NYC Transit chief, is the special advisor overseeing the project.
When will construction start and how much will it cost?
The project is budgeted at roughly $7 billion, and federal officials have said construction is targeted to begin by the end of 2027, with preliminary design and environmental review running through 2026 and 2027.
Is Madison Square Garden being moved?
No. Federal officials selected a design that keeps Madison Square Garden in place rather than relocating it, a departure from earlier state-led concepts.
What happened to the earlier MTA funding?
When the federal government took over in April 2025, it clawed back roughly $120 million in federal money previously awarded to the MTA and Amtrak. Governor Hochul said the federal takeover would save New York taxpayers more than $1 billion the state had earmarked for the project.