Manhattan's bustling Penn Station is one of the most rail-accessible stations in the country, with 14 Amtrak routes. Though the station is owned by Amtrak, it also receives traffic from New Jersey Transit, the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City subway. Purchasing a ticket on Amtrak from Penn Station is simple enough, but with the heavy foot traffic and multiple train lines each with their own directional signs, locating the Amtrak portion of the station can be daunting.

Get to Penn Station by car, taxi, bus, walking or subway. The station is at Penn Plaza and encompasses the blocks between Seventh and Eighth avenues and 31st through 33rd streets.

Enter Penn Station from the street at Eighth Avenue, either at 31st or 33rd street. The escalators will take you directly down to the Amtrak portion of the station. You can also take the 1, 9, A, C or E subway trains to 34th Street-Penn Station, but you'll arrive at the Long Island Rail Road level of the station. Follow the signs to Amtrak.

Purchase a ticket on Amtrak through an agent at the windows flanking the main hall of the Amtrak station. You can also buy your ticket ahead of time on the Amtrak website or by calling 800-872-7245 (800-USA-RAIL). Tickets bought online or over the phone can be printed at a Quik-Kiosk around the Amtrak portion of Penn Station.

Watch the departure boards hanging from the center aisle of the Amtrak station. The departure board will list the track where your Amtrak train will be platformed. Track numbers are listed only when the train is ready to be boarded, typically 10 to 20 minutes before departure.