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5 July 2002

Go to the Report: Fire and Life-Safety Needs in Pennsylvania Station Tunnels (18 December 2000)

METROPOLITAN DESK December 10, 2000

As New Penn Station Proceeds, Officials Say Tunnel Problems Tempt Fate

The New York Times
By DEAN E. MURPHY (NYT) 1721 words
METROPOLITAN DESK | December 10, 2000, Sunday
As New Penn Station Proceeds, Officials Say Tunnel Problems Tempt Fate

By DEAN E. MURPHY (NYT) 1721 words
Late Edition - Final, Section 1, Page 57, Column 2

ABSTRACT - Federal transportation inspectors are reporting on potentially disastrous fire and safety conditions in 16 miles of aging tunnels that serve New York's Pennsylvania Station, even as officials prepare to lay cornerstone for grand new terminal; more than 750 trains carrying 300,000 people use tunnels daily, but emergency access is through 90-year-old spiral staircases that are ten stories high and too narrow to allow firefighters to get through during evacuations; photo; tunnels lack modern ventilation to remove smoke and pump in fresh air at same time, and have only limited water standpipe connections; Comr Thomas Von Essen warns firefighters might be unable to prevent catastrophe; Amtrak insists operations are safe but concedes problems are critical; president George D Warrington blames lack of money; proponents of Farley Building extension say it is inappropriate to link tunnel issues to terminal expansion (M)