Rift Widens between Amtrak’s Byford and MTA’s Lieber over Penn Rebuild Plan
After appearing that a reproachment might be nearing between the MTA and Amtrak over Penn Station rebuild several weeks ago, the rift between the two parties now seems wider than ever.
| 05 Oct 2026 | 02:35
Andy Byford is pointing a finger at the MTA, saying its intransigence will end up boosting the cost of the Penn Station rebuilding plan. (
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MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber at a subway improvement press conference at 125th Street in May, is balking at joining NJ Transit as a partner in the Penn Station rebuild. (
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Local elected Democratic officials, led by Congressman Jerry Nadler, say there is a lack of transparency on the Penn Station rebuilding plans and don’t want to cede state and local property tax authority for buildings surrounding Penn Station to Amtrak, which is a federal operation. (
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An artist rendering of the Penn Station redesign which proposes tearing down the Madison Square Garden owned-theater on Eighth Avenue and replacing with a new grand entrance (above). (
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Amtrak’s man in charge of rebuilding Penn Station accused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its allies of “trying to undermine the project,” claiming the state agency had refused to cooperate in even basic consultation needed to move forward.
The official, Andy Byford, said that the MTA’s recalcitrance could drive up the cost and delay the completion of the long talked about improvements. But he vowed the work will get done.
“The President is going to see to it,” Byford wrote in an OpEd in the Daily News. “We are on track to deliver with or without them and we’d like them to share in the glory.”
The strain over Penn Station between local officials and the Trump administration, which took over the project from the MTA in April of 2025, has been apparent for some time. But Byford’s new missive struck a combative posture unlike anything previously heard from him.
“Unproductive behavior from the MTA threatens to saddle taxpayers with extra costs should the project be delayed,” he wrote, “and may relegate millions to using the deteriorating station longer than they have had to–which is decades too long.”
Byford’s tone, which rang more like the Trump White House than the mild mannered “Train Daddy” New Yorkers have known, was a jarring turnaround from just a couple of weeks ago, when he thanked Governor Kathy Hochul for mediating with the MTA and said he was on the verge of an agreement with them.
“We have been getting closer to an agreement with the help of Gov Hochul’s team,” Byford said in the op-ed, which appeared in Monday newspapers. “But progress has still been slower than this multi-billion dollar effort deserves.”
Byford’s op-ed ran under the headline: “The MTA is blocking a new Penn Station.”
Byford wrote that the MTA had declined to respond to basic questions from the construction team, like how much space the MTA needs and what agreements it has made to maintain the part of the station used by its Long Island Railroad.
Amtrak owns the station, but its two largest tenants are New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Railroad. The MTA’s metro north line will also begin service next year.
The MTA spent about half a billion dollars to renovate the LIRR portion of the station, under 33d street, and MTA chairman Janno Lieber has repeatedly scoffed at the need to spend another $8 billion to rebuild the entire station.
When the MTA was still in charge of the project, he specifically objected to paying hundreds of millions of dollars to the owner of Madison Square Garden for the right to use MSG property in the rebuilding.
A key component of the Amtrak plan is to buy the MSG theater on Eighth Avenue, tear it down and use the space to build a grand train hall.
“People are quick to point out the dated stations obvious shortcomings: the narrow ad crowded platforms, the dysfunction rat maze layout, or the dilapidated amenities,” Byford wrote about his “thousands” of conversations with users of the station. “You can imagine then how well received our renderings for the new and improved station were when announced earlier this summer.”
But since then, the project has been hampered by what Byford characterized as “bureaucratic infighting,” although some of the objections have come not from the MTA but from local elected Democrats who fear ceding local power to President Trump.
Byford accused the MTA and its allies of “peddling false narratives” about the project. He specifically referred to an earlier op-ed in the Daily News by Reinvent Albany, a good government group, which had criticized Amtrak’s effort to get the MTA to sign a cooperation agreement similar to one already signed by New Jersey Transit.
“Reinvent Albany published a nine-month old, outdated internal draft agreement with no relevance to our current negotiations with the MTA,” Byford complained. Byford did not say so, but other project officials say they believe the MTA gave the document to Reinvent Albany.
“Now is an opportunity for the MTA to silence the naysayers by standing with us as a constructive partner,” Byford wrote.
“If Amtrak would share the latest agreement they are asking MTA to sign, we would be happy to review it,” said Rachel Fauss, senior policy advisor to Reinvent Albany.
Byford also pushed back on Reinvent Albany’s criticism of legislation pending in Congress that, as Byford characterized it, “would enable Amtrak to use a financing tool common to large projects in New Your City.”
That tool is to divert local property taxes to help fund the project, a plan first offered for Penn Station by then Governor Andrew Cuomo. But local elected officials, led by Representative Jerrold Nadler, have said it is one thing for the city and state to do this and quite another for Amtrak and the Trump administration to take over that power.
Byford said recently that he is not counting on this diverted tax revenue. He has said he would like to see 80% of the cost paid for by the federal government, although he has not yet applied for the money.
New York State had originally allocated $1 billion for rebuilding Penn Station, but Governor Hochul took it back when the Trump administration took over the project.
“This project is bigger than us all,” Byford wrote. “We are going to leave a mark on Manhattan that will survive generations and benefit passengers and commuters alike.”