# can passengers wait inside NY Penn Station between midnight and 6AM?



## DennyM (Jul 7, 2014)

I will be on an Amtrak train that arrives NYP just minutes before midnight. (Palmetto)

My departing Amtrak train leaves NYP at 6AM.

It seems to make no sense to get a hotel room in New York City for only 3 to 4 hours. (an hour to get to the hotel and check-in, then wake up and check-out at 4:30AM to get to NYP station to wait for the 6AM train)

Are passengers in my situation allowed to just find a place to sit inside NYP and wait for 6 hours?

The reason I'm asking is that i tried something like that at Newark Penn Station a couple of years ago. The police did NOT care if you had Amtrak tickets or not. After midnight, they made me and 4 other Amtrak passengers exit the station. They said "you're only allowed to come in and wait for your train one hour prior... new security policy...."(blah blah blah...)

Thanks!


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 7, 2014)

The Amtrak waiting room in NYP is open 24/7 for Ticketed Passengers ( you'll have to show your ticket to enter the waiting room!) Of course you're free to go outside the Station and walk around as New York never closes but if you are carrying much luggage and personal items this might not be practical!


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## the_traveler (Jul 7, 2014)

Yes you can. In fact there's an Amtrak train that arrives ~2 am and departs ~3 am.


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## Willie1946 (Jul 7, 2014)

Don't know about the station rules but there is a hotel across the street from Penn Station that you can walk to in 15 minutes, Hotel Pennsylvanian. Built by Pennsy but recently refurbished. Also one of the cheaper non-fleabag hotels in NYC. Phone number is still the same as the old song ... Pennsylvania 6-5000.

http://www.hotelpenn.com


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## jis (Jul 7, 2014)

And LIRR pretty much runs all night. NJT has a gap from about just short of 2 am to just before 5am the last time I looked. So there is some activity all night long. And of course the Subways (7th Ave IRT 1,2,3 and 8th Ave. IND A,C,E lines) run 24/7 too.


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## Acela150 (Jul 7, 2014)

Keep in mind that a lot of the homeless will file in to sleep.


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## brentrain17 (Jul 7, 2014)

Only passengers with tickets are allowed in the Amtrak Waiting area, I have waited between 10pm and 6am and have never been bothered by homeless people The area is in an enclosed area which is not accessible by people without tickets.


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## Railroad Bill (Jul 8, 2014)

Actually, when we used the waiting lounge at 6am last April, there were a few "homeless people" sleeping in a couple of seats. Not causing any problems. but eventually one of the desk agents came back and asked them to leave. I think the night crew may look the other way if the people are regulars to the station overnight. When the morning crowd starts to gather around 6, then the rules start being enforced.


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## railiner (Jul 8, 2014)

You can do it, but why would you? Sitting all night in a station or airport, is a miserable experience that seems endless....

Even if you could only grab 4 hours or so of sleep in a hotel, you would feel much better, especially after taking a refreshing shower.....

If expenses are limited, you might consider transfering elsewhere, if possible, and layover where hotel rates are more reasonable....


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## caravanman (Jul 8, 2014)

If the facilities are open and it suits to sit at the station, why not? I once slept on the floor overnight at Calcutta station wrapped in a sheet!

Ed


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## jis (Jul 8, 2014)

caravanman said:


> If the facilities are open and it suits to sit at the station, why not? I once slept on the floor overnight at Calcutta station wrapped in a sheet!
> 
> Ed


Calcutta Station? Did you mean Howrah Station? Calcutta station is a rather small edifice in north Calcutta. The main train that uses it is the Calcutta - Dhaka Maitryeee Express. Most significant trains out of Calcutta use either the Howrah or the Sealdah stations.


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## fairviewroad (Jul 8, 2014)

DennyM said:


> The reason I'm asking is that i tried something like that at Newark Penn Station a couple of years ago. The police did NOT care if you had Amtrak tickets or not. After midnight, they made me and 4 other Amtrak passengers exit the station. They said "you're only allowed to come in and wait for your train one hour prior... new security policy...."(blah blah blah...)


According to the Amtrak website, the Newark station closes at 11 p.m. It's one of the few major NEC stations to close overnight, if the website is to be believed.

But if that's the case, how do passengers on 66/67 board their trains? At 1:32 a.m. and 3:20 a.m., respectively. I can understand the ticket office closing down, but the actual station hours are listed separately. Are the platforms at NWK accessible from the street w/o passing through the station building? And PATH trains run all night, too...how does that factor into things?


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## VentureForth (Jul 8, 2014)

My experience the one time I used NYP, I hung out in the Acela lounge (was an inbound sleeper pax) until they closed at 10. Then I went and ate a very late dinner, watched a movie, went to the Empire State Building, returned to the station at around 4 AM, grabbed a donut at the local Walgreens, and crashed in the Amtrak/LIRR waiting area for around 2 hours.

I asked this before, but didn't get much of an answer... The waiting area clearly says it's for Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad (or is it Metro North?) Anyway, the transit cops would walk around the waiting area asking people for their tickets (after having been admitted by the gatekeeper). They kicked out a lot of folks with tickets. Interestingly, one homeless guy seemed to elude the cops - though he was particularly conspicuous. It was weird.


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## MrFSS (Jul 8, 2014)

VentureForth said:


> They kicked out a lot of folks with tickets.


Wonder why they would do that???


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## jis (Jul 8, 2014)

fairviewroad said:


> According to the Amtrak website, the Newark station closes at 11 p.m. It's one of the few major NEC stations to close overnight, if the website is to be believed.
> 
> But if that's the case, how do passengers on 66/67 board their trains? At 1:32 a.m. and 3:20 a.m., respectively. I can understand the ticket office closing down, but the actual station hours are listed separately. Are the platforms at NWK accessible from the street w/o passing through the station building? And PATH trains run all night, too...how does that factor into things?


They just shoo everyone out of the waiting area in the main head house. Everything else remains open. This is just an exercise to make sure that they can eject everyone who is trying to use the station as their bedroom or whatever. PATH and NJT trains run almost all night. I have never been stopped from getting to a PATH or NJT train at any time of the day at Newark Penn Station. Don;t know what they do about Amtrak for sure, though I have once gotten off a late Cardinal at Newark and just waited on the platform for NJT to take me back to Metropark. No problem.
Interestingly NJT does not list station hours. It lists only ticket office hours. Of course, to ride NJT no one really needs a ticket office, what with the abundance of TVMs all over the place in NWK.


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## Richmond (Jul 8, 2014)

MrFSS said:


> VentureForth said:
> 
> 
> > They kicked out a lot of folks with tickets.
> ...


NJ Transit closes their waiting area for a few hours after midnight. At that point, NJ Transit ticket holders are permitted to wait inside the Amtrak waiting area. Usually around 3-4 a.m. the gate agent or Amrak police come through and check tickets. Those with Amtrak tickets are left alone. Those with NJT tickets are asked to move to the NJT waiting area.

LIRR concourse and some restaurants stay open all night and I've seen folks (commuters, they looked to me) sleeping on the floor there.


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## Devil's Advocate (Jul 8, 2014)

I'd probably get a hotel and reschedule the connecting train to something later. No way I would spend the night in NYP unless I had no other choice.


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 8, 2014)

I spent one night in NYP in 2004 (it only seemed like a week! LOL)

I rode #67 from Boston to NYP arriving @ 3AM! Since the Republican National Convention was being held in MSG upstairs, all the hotels for miles around were full @ Ultra- High Prices even for New York! NYP was jammed with people waiting/sleeping everywhere and lots of Security patrolling the Station!(NYPD/Feds/National Guard etc)Showed my ticket to the agent and snagged one of the few seats left in the Amtrak waiting room! Ever so often the Security guys would come through and ask to see tickets, there were unticketed folks asked to leave!

About 530AM I gave up trying to sleep and made my way to where the food stands are located and snagged some coffee and pastry! ( pretty tasty and cheaper and better than the Cafes on Amtrak!)

I was catching the Adirondack for Montreal @ 8:15am so snagged a Red Cap and was taken to trainside about 7:45 am(lots of Security everywhere!)and was able to snag a good right side window seat (,no biz class) as the first one on the train in the now very busy station!

All things considered, I wouldn't do this again @ ANY Station!!!


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## chakk (Jul 9, 2014)

Many years ago Amtrak ran a sleeper from NYP to WAS. I was shown aboard by the station agent around 10 PM and we left in the consist of the Night Owl around 3 AM.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## caravanman (Jul 9, 2014)

It is good to be 100% factual, but I was kind of imagining that some A.U. readers might not know where Howrah station was. Thanks for the info on the "real" Calcutta station... or has it changed it's name to Kolkata station nowadays? 

Ed


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## jis (Jul 9, 2014)

Yeah, Calcutta is of course Kolkata.  I usually use a notation like Kolkata (Howrah) or something like that. What makes things even more confusing is that there is a Rajdhani Express to New Delhi both from Howrah and Sealdah, and they are two distinct trains, not the same train!

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## SubwayNut (Jul 9, 2014)

VentureForth said:


> The waiting area clearly says it's for Amtrak and the Long Island Railroad (or is it Metro North?)


It's New Jersey Transit actually, Long Island Railroad has its own waiting room in a separate part of the station. NJT does too but as part of the legacy of the fact that NJT shared the Amtrak concourse until it opened its own in 2001 (that has its own small waiting room) their tickets are still accepted for admittance into the Amtrak waiting room.


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## VentureForth (Jul 9, 2014)

Well, thanks for the info. Kinda sad that they would disturb folks to move when they are allowed in one place and then not after a certain time.



jimhudson said:


> I rode #67 from Boston to NYP arriving @ 3AM! Since the Republican National Convention was being held in MSG upstairs, all the hotels for miles around were full @ Ultra- High Prices even for New York!


Are you sure you weren't a closet delegate?!?!?


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 9, 2014)

VentureForth said:


> Well, thanks for the info. Kinda sad that they would disturb folks to move when they are allowed in one place and then not after a certain time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm a Texan and W isn't, so the answer is No! LOL

There was a Special Train kept ready in the Bowels of NYP for the VIPs like they used to do for FDR, I would have liked to have ridden on it with them!

In a related story the Patron Tequila Express PV was on the back of the CZ in 2012 enroute to the Republican and Democratic Conventions in Charolette and Tampa to serve as a Hotel and Party Central for VIPs! Sure wouldn't have minded making that trip! ( we did get to go aboard during the stop in GJC!!!)


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## Silver Star rider (Jul 9, 2014)

Wasn't the 'FDR' car kept at Grand Central Terminal, under the Waldorf? I am surprised it is questionable as it isn't so ancient history??

Bruce-SSR


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## Bob Dylan (Jul 9, 2014)

Silver Star rider said:


> Wasn't the 'FDR' car kept at Grand Central Terminal, under the Waldorf? I am surprised it is questionable as it isn't so ancient history??
> 
> Bruce-SSR


You are correct Sir! GCT and the Waldorf it was! Brain fart, Oops!!!


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## Silver Star rider (Jul 9, 2014)

Wanderin' Bill said:


> Don't know about the station rules but there is a hotel across the street from Penn Station that you can walk to in 15 minutes, Hotel Pennsylvanian. Built by Pennsy but recently refurbished. Also one of the cheaper non-fleabag hotels in NYC. Phone number is still the same as the old song ... Pennsylvania 6-5000.
> 
> http://www.hotelpenn.com


I planed a trip from Orlando and booked myself on the Silver Star. I didn't think about getting into Penn after 7 pm at night. I live in the southern tip of Brooklyn, about an hour train ride away. Even if the Star was on time, the idea of riding the train by myself with valuable electronics that late at night bothered me enough to look into maybe stating overnight at HP, I found the price crazy. I was able to switch to the Meteor which gets in late morning or early afternoon the same price recently. Just allot happier

Bruce-SSR


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## DennyM (Jul 9, 2014)

Silver Star rider said:


> I planed a trip from Orlando and booked myself on the Silver Star. I didn't think about getting into Penn after 7 pm at night. I live in the southern tip of Brooklyn, about an hour train ride away. Even if the Star was on time, the idea of riding the train by myself with valuable electronics that late at night bothered me enough to look into maybe stating overnight at HP, I found the price crazy. I was able to switch to the Meteor which gets in late morning or early afternoon the same price recently. Just allot happier
> 
> Bruce-SSR



I visit NYC fairly frequent over the last 30 years. Never felt unsafe. I guess that's because most of my travels are confined to Manhattan and Queens. I never felt anything walking around the city... Until I drove through Brooklyn at midnight a couple of weeks ago. Wow.... it was like a war zone after dark.  Not a soul on the street, but plenty of abandoned cars.(i.e. no license plates) The route that I took was from the Battery Tunnel to the Verrazano Bridge. (mostly under I-278) I kid you not... I panicked when I saw gunshots barely 50 feet from the front of my car. A guy was firing his handgun like it was in the movies. A couple(the victims) ran and screamed for help. In the darkness, I couldn't see their faces, but I kept seeing the flash from the handgun...


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## amamba (Jul 9, 2014)

jimhudson said:


> Silver Star rider said:
> 
> 
> > Wasn't the 'FDR' car kept at Grand Central Terminal, under the Waldorf? I am surprised it is questionable as it isn't so ancient history??
> ...


The waldorf is several blocks north of GCT, though.



DennyM said:


> Silver Star rider said:
> 
> 
> > I planed a trip from Orlando and booked myself on the Silver Star. I didn't think about getting into Penn after 7 pm at night. I live in the southern tip of Brooklyn, about an hour train ride away. Even if the Star was on time, the idea of riding the train by myself with valuable electronics that late at night bothered me enough to look into maybe stating overnight at HP, I found the price crazy. I was able to switch to the Meteor which gets in late morning or early afternoon the same price recently. Just allot happier
> ...


Meh, depends on what part of brooklyn you are in. Many parts of Brooklyn now (ie, Park Slope) are yuppie (or hipster?) playgrounds. They need stroller parking outside of half the restaurants there during brunch.


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## Silver Star rider (Jul 9, 2014)

Sounds like you were driving on 3rd Ave. There are private homes between you and 4th ave. I don't think of that neighborhood as bad. I just don't like the idea of being locked inside a subway car with a backpack full of electronics by myself. Once off the train, I don't have a problem walking from the train station to my home, which I can measure in yards. I don't mind walking around my home any time of the night.

I live about 3 blocks from the Cyclone in Coney Island.

Bruce-SSR


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