Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Gateway Program (Northeast Corridor)" in English language version.
…constructed as an integral component of the original Pennsylvania Station complex and served as a power generation and control center for the station, its tracks and signal systems. the facade was designed by McKim Mead & White to complement the exterior of the Pennsylvania Station. While much of the original service equipment has been dismantled or abandoned, some of the original power distribution equipment is still in use...
The story of ARC began in 1995 with the start of a "Major Investment Study" that reviewed 137 alternative transportation improvements that would get commuters from central and northern New Jersey out of their cars, and into Manhattan faster, cheaper, and with less harm to the environment. After four years of study, the list was narrowed down to a few finalists in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, the feasibility of each of those plans (exactly where the tracks would be laid, and how they would connect to Penn Station) was studied, and the ultimate plan ironed out. From 2003 to 2009, the final plan — two new rail tunnels leading to a new lower level of Penn Station — was the subject of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
One previous ARC design had a new NJ Transit station below Penn Station, which would enable all train platforms to be under one roof. But geologists found softer rock formations from an ancient stream bed that would not provide the necessary structural integrity required of new construction.....But planners found they could not repeat in a built-up city what the Pennsylvania Railroad did when it built the existing tunnel 100 years ago by digging a wide trench through the west side of Manhattan. The only solution was to dig deep – low enough to avoid the historic 90-foot-deep shoreline bulkhead and the New York Subway No. 7 line's extension. From that depth and in a short distance, trains can't reliably rise to make it into Penn Station. After repeated review, it was concluded a spur from the new tunnel was impossible.
NJ TRANSIT financed a new High Density Signal system in conjunction with the Kearny Connection, Montclair Connection and Secaucus Transfer projects that allowed the total number of NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak peak period trains operating in the heavily congested NewarkPSNY corridor to increase from 18 per hour to 23. The new signal system enabled NJ TRANSIT to substantially increase its share of peak hour trains, from 11 (of the prior capacity of 18) to 17 or 18, depending on the hour, of the 23 now available. (The "New Initiatives" agreement anticipated a capacity of 25 trains during the peak hour; however, NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak, through informal agreement, have limited the maximum number of hourly moves to 23 because of the continuing need to "reverse" trains out of New York back to New Jersey to make additional runs. These "reverse moves" cross the path of inbound trains and consume one or two precious peak slots per hour in New York.
The story of ARC began in 1995 with the start of a "Major Investment Study" that reviewed 137 alternative transportation improvements that would get commuters from central and northern New Jersey out of their cars, and into Manhattan faster, cheaper, and with less harm to the environment. After four years of study, the list was narrowed down to a few finalists in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, the feasibility of each of those plans (exactly where the tracks would be laid, and how they would connect to Penn Station) was studied, and the ultimate plan ironed out. From 2003 to 2009, the final plan — two new rail tunnels leading to a new lower level of Penn Station — was the subject of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
NJ TRANSIT financed a new High Density Signal system in conjunction with the Kearny Connection, Montclair Connection and Secaucus Transfer projects that allowed the total number of NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak peak period trains operating in the heavily congested NewarkPSNY corridor to increase from 18 per hour to 23. The new signal system enabled NJ TRANSIT to substantially increase its share of peak hour trains, from 11 (of the prior capacity of 18) to 17 or 18, depending on the hour, of the 23 now available. (The "New Initiatives" agreement anticipated a capacity of 25 trains during the peak hour; however, NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak, through informal agreement, have limited the maximum number of hourly moves to 23 because of the continuing need to "reverse" trains out of New York back to New Jersey to make additional runs. These "reverse moves" cross the path of inbound trains and consume one or two precious peak slots per hour in New York.
One previous ARC design had a new NJ Transit station below Penn Station, which would enable all train platforms to be under one roof. But geologists found softer rock formations from an ancient stream bed that would not provide the necessary structural integrity required of new construction.....But planners found they could not repeat in a built-up city what the Pennsylvania Railroad did when it built the existing tunnel 100 years ago by digging a wide trench through the west side of Manhattan. The only solution was to dig deep – low enough to avoid the historic 90-foot-deep shoreline bulkhead and the New York Subway No. 7 line's extension. From that depth and in a short distance, trains can't reliably rise to make it into Penn Station. After repeated review, it was concluded a spur from the new tunnel was impossible.
…constructed as an integral component of the original Pennsylvania Station complex and served as a power generation and control center for the station, its tracks and signal systems. the facade was designed by McKim Mead & White to complement the exterior of the Pennsylvania Station. While much of the original service equipment has been dismantled or abandoned, some of the original power distribution equipment is still in use...