34 Street-Penn Station
The A,C,E station at 34th Street-Penn Station could easily be the IND station (and definitely express station) that is closest to the surface. The reason for this is because the subway goes above all the railroad infrastructure beneath including Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak Trains that are announced and signed on exits throughout the station. The station was one of the original stops of the IND 8th Avenue subway and opened on September 10, 1932 using provisions made by the Pennsylvania Railroad with station's opening in 1909 to encourage and incorporate the building of an 8th Avenue Subway Station. Going past the express platform turnstiles on the main mezzanine area at 33 Street is the only way to connect between the older Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall without going via a platform for Tracks 5 through 21.
The stop also has an extremely unique layout only shared with the 34th Street-Penn Station stop on the IRT 7th Avenue line (and a lesser extent Atlantic Avenue on the IRT Brooklyn Line) that has a similar just beneath the street design and platform layout. The layout for the four-track line is two side platforms for the C, E local tracks and an island platform shared by the two express tracks. There are no staircases up from the Express’s Island platform, all exiting is done by going down below to the lower-level mezzanine beneath the platforms. This lower-level mezzanine isn't a cavernous full-width mezzanine open to passengers, there is no public connection for passengers between 34 Street and 35 Street (the 35 Street end feels like an underpass), with the MTA NYC Transit Lost Property Office taking up this space, the southern half of the mezzanine has one relatively narrow continuous passageway under the Express platform only, otherwise taken up by a Field Office for Elevator and Escalator Maintenance. The side platforms have on platform fare control areas. The unique design is definitely a stop where passengers go on dashes down via the underpasses to change sides. The free cross-unders are only at the middle and northern ends of the platforms. If your unsure (such as at the beginning or end of A local overnight service) of the platform your train will arrive on wait by a staircase in the middle or towards the northern end of the platforms.
In addition, the express platform is offset and runs farther north from the local platforms. Also, A trains on the express platforms stop slightly offset from each other with uptown A trains stopping slightly north of downtown A trains. This portion of the island platform has walls along the opposite track where trains don't platform. These walls are fully tiled with the same trimline as the local platforms. At the northern end of the platform the wall also includes little black 34s for 34th Street. Along each track is a series of maroon-colored columns. These platforms have a two-tile maroon trim line with a black border. The station's mezzanine and underpass have similar trimlines just one tile wide. The tops of name the large tablets directly break-up the trimline with white text on the same maroon background, a black border and say 34th Street-Penn Station. The name tablets alternate with maroon directional mosaics in the center of the wall, these are clearly not original since they point towards Madison Square Garden with an arrow towards the Penn Station end of the station. This is the modern arena that opened in 1968 when the grand Penn Station in the 1960s was demolished. The station was last renovated in 2003 that included retiling the local platforms and making the station fully ADA compliant.
The 3 station exits:
At the northern end of the local platforms, towards the northern end of the express platform (be in the second car) a simple, narrow underpass connects all three platforms with a staircase up to each, with doors into the employee areas taking up the former full length mezzanine beneath the platforms. On the local platforms are on platform fare control areas with turnstiles both high and low but all token booths removed. From the downtown platform two streetstairs lead up to the NW and one to the SW corners of 35th Street and 8th Avenue. The downtown platform is the mirror image with two up to the NE and one up to the SE corners.
The middle of the platform contains the exits to 34th Street. On the uptown platform are turnstiles and streetstairs up to the NW and SW corners. The downtown platform has a streetstair at the NE and SE corners and the SE corner also contains the ADA street elevator, a single staircase from the local platforms and separate platform elevators lead down to a mezzanine beneath the platforms. This mezzanine has two staircases and an elevator down from the express platform in this area. This mezzanine has the entrance to the Lost Property Office at its northern end and becomes narrower continuing a block beneath to 33rd Street where two more staircases lead down from the express platform.
The mezzanine beneath the express platform ends (without any more local platform staircases) within fare control at a wide bank of now unstaffed turnstiles that provide the main access into the awful subterranean maze that is the current Penn Station through the main 33rd Street Connecting Concourse. These turnstiles also allow step-free access to Penn Station's platforms and its elevator entrances (plus an out of system step-free fully underground transfer to the 1, 2, and 3 trains). On the east side of this exit area a ramp leads up, past a name tablet that says 34th Street Station to the main northern concourse at the northern end of all the station tracks. On the west side a staircase leads up to a fare control area for the downtown platform and another ramp leads up to what was originally the LIRR's West End Concourse (via this subway entrance is the only way to access it) that originally provided additional entrances and exits to and from tracks 13 to 21. This concourse opened in 1986. In 2018 it was renovated into the West End Concourse to provide access to tracks 5 through 13, and on January 1, 2021 the new Moynihan Train Hall opened, these narrow ramps and passing the main fare control area for the Express platform are the only ways to get between Moynihan Train Hall and the older part of Penn Station without going via the platforms of Tracks 5 through 21.
Beyond the end of the express platform and above the lower mezzanine beneath this platform are the final on platform fare control areas for the local platforms. On the Uptown side the turnstiles and full time token booth lead to two streetstairs one to the SE and NE (in front of Madison Square Garden) corners of 33 Street and 8th Avenue. A very wide staircase leads down to the main northern concourse of Penn Station.
The downtown platform also has a token booth, and the turnstiles lead out to two staircase down, one leads directly into the West End Concourse with continuing access to Moynihan Train Hall and the other to the Express platform fare control area and all access into Penn Station. In addition two Streetstairs lead up to the SW and one up to the NW corners of 33 street and 8th Avenue. As part of renovations for the Moynihan Train Hall, the original two narrow staircases to the SW corner of 33 Street and 8th Avenue were rebuilt and there is now one wide staircase in front of the Moynihan Train Hall built inside the Farley Post Office Building, this wide staircase has grey and black stone walls around it designed to blend into the aesthetic of the stone and black accents design of Moynihan Train Hall and the West End Concourse.
Photo 1-3: February 8, 2004; 4: June 23, 2006; 5 & 6: February 14, 2006; 7: July 20, 2008; 8-44: May 26, 2010; 45-46: August 29, 2011; 47-50: October 31, 2012; 51-52: November 2, 2012; 53-56: November 4, 2012; 57: February 15, 2013; 58: February 18, 2013; 59-61: March 3, 2013; 62-66: March 8, 2013; 67-76: March 11, 2013; 77-80: March 17, 2013; 81: May 30, 2013; 82-85: July 20, 2013; 86-90: February 16, 2015; 91-93: October 8, 2018; 94-97: September 2, 2003; 98: September 3, 2003; 99: September 30, 2024;
