Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

(PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been demolished. In the early 20th century, different railroad companies typically built separate stations, especially in major cities or towns, so the stations usually took the name of the companies. If various railroads cooperated to use the same station, the combined depot often took the name Union Station.

Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

's Union Station was renamed Penn Station on August 1, 1928. Amtrak

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

intercity service and

MARC Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

commuter service still operate through the station; the station is also served by a spur of the Baltimore Light Rail. Although bearing the full name Pennsylvania Station, it is typically referred to simply as Penn Station in nearly all situations.

Cincinnati

The PRR station in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Pearl and Butler Streets, built in 1880, was named Pennsylvania Station. It was supplanted with the opening of Cincinnati Union Terminal in 1933.

Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

's old Lakefront Union Depot was renamed Penn Station on April 28, 1946. It was last used September 27, 1953, and service was cut back the next day to Euclid Avenue.

Harrisburg

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

's Union Station was also known as Penn Station. It was built in 1887 and rebuilt in 1905. It was shared by Reading Railroad, Northern Central Railway, and the Cumberland Valley Railroad, until the Reading Railroad built a separate station in Harrisburg. Today it has the name Harrisburg Transportation Center and serves Amtrak's

Keystone Service Amtrak's ''Keystone Service'' provides frequent regional rail, regional passenger train service between the Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, running along the Philadelphia to ...

and

Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to: * A person or thing from Pennsylvania * Pennsylvanian (geology) The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesca ...

intercity lines, along with Greyhound, Trailways, and local bus services.

Jersey City

Pennsylvania Railroad Station in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.North River Tunnels under the Hudson River and the Pennsylvania Station in New York City. In the 1920s, the station took on the name ''Exchange Place,'' in contrast to the main station across the Hudson River. Train service to the station ended in November 1961 and demolition of the complex was completed in 1963.

Newark

Newark, New Jersey's Penn Station opened in 1935, replacing a smaller structure. It now serves NJ Transit trains, buses and Newark Light Rail, Amtrak Northeast Corridor and other intercity trains, PATH trains to Jersey City/Lower Manhattan and Greyhound buses.

New York City

Manhattan's Penn Station opened September 8, 1910, for

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

trains by means of the new tunnel under the East River. Serving more than 600,000 commuter rail and Amtrak passengers a day, it is the busiest passenger transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. The name was adopted by the PRR on March 1, 1909. The opening of the Hell Gate Bridge on April 1, 1917, brought New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad

intercity train Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

s into Penn Station. The station now services Amtrak's

and Empire Corridor, as well as New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road commuter trains.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's 30th Street Station was named Pennsylvania Station when the upper (commuter) level opened on September 28, 1930. It was renamed Pennsylvania Station–30th Street on April 26, 1933, soon after the lower (intercity) level opened on March 12. Intercity PRR trains used that station, while commuter trains continued east to terminate at

Suburban Station Suburban Station is an art deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center, Philadelphia. Its official SEPTA address is 16th Street and JFK Boulevard. The station is owned and operated by SEPTA and is one of the three ...

. The station is still used by Amtrak intercity service, New Jersey Transit Atlantic City service, and SEPTA commuter service.

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Union Station was renamed Penn Station on December 17, 1912. It is still used by Amtrak intercity service.

Penn Central Station

With the 1968 merger of the PRR into Penn Central, several of the Pennsylvania Stations were renamed on June 6 to Penn Central Station. Philadelphia's ''Pennsylvania Station-30th Street'' became ''Penn Central Station-30th Street'', while

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

's Pennsylvania Station, Michigan Central Station in Detroit, Michigan, New York Central Railroad's (NYC)

Buffalo Central Station Buffalo Central Terminal is an historic former railroad station in Buffalo, New York. An active station from 1929 to 1979, the 17-story Art Deco style station was designed by architects Fellheimer & Wagner for the New York Central Railroad. The ...

, and Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Station became simply ''Penn Central Station''. The stations in New York City and Newark, New Jersey kept the old name, "Penn Station", the former because Penn Central also operated

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

PRR stations not named Pennsylvania Station

Other major PRR terminals that never received the Penn Station name include: Chicago's Union Station, Cincinnati's Union Terminal, and Washington, D.C.'s Union Station. These were all used by other railroads in addition to the PRR.

External links

References

{{sia Penn Central Transportation