Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station, commonly referred to as Penn Station is the major intercity rail terminal in New York City. It is estimated that on any given day, Penn Station processes close to 600,000 passengers, which is lofty compared to the more historic Grand Central Station's processing of only close to 140,000. This makes Penn Station the busiest passenger transportation facility in the United States, and easily the most active rail terminal in North America.
Interestingly enough, the original Penn Station was a regal architectural masterpiece completed in 1910 and named after the Pennsylvania Railroad, its primary operator. Regrettably, most of the structure was demolished in 1964 and replaced by a facility that is primarily underground. While little of the original structure still stands, modern-day Penn Station still sits on the original grounds at 8th Avenue and 34th Street. The grounds are now known as the Pennsylvania Plaza, which includes the famous Madison Square Garden. Today the majority of rail facilities and infrastructure are operated by the dominant commuter rail line, Metro North and the passenger rail operator, Amtrak.
While Penn Station is certainly a historic and important complex in the daily lives of New York City residents as well as travelers, it is also a facility in which asbestos was used. Railroads and their associated infrastructure have long been associated with liberal use of asbestos. Asbestos possesses insulation qualities for which it was used frequently on steam pipe and electrical fixtures. Because asbestos was so efficient in insulating and preventing temperature transfer, rail operators found several uses for it throughout nearly all aspects of rail construction and related infrastructure.
For this reason, workers who have worked in these areas of the rail industry need to be aware of the risk posed by asbestos. Those who have worked with or around insulation on piping, electrical fittings, or any other known asbestos product need to be especially conscious of the risk presented by asbestos. Asbestos was banned in the late 1970's because there arose a clear connection between asbestos exposure and respiratory illness. Any employee of Penn Station or laborer who has worked around these materials should monitor their health closely, particularly their respiratory health.
