We're talking about allowing Metro-North trains to go into Penn Station as an alternative to Grand Central Terminal.

Anyone who has had to hotfoot it several blocks, grab a cab or squeeze onto the shuttle subway between the two terminals can appreciate the proposal.

According to the Department of Transportation, about 30 percent of the commuters from this county to Grand Central eventually wind up at Penn Station.

As busy as Grand Central is, Penn Station also is bustling, dealing with trains from Amtrak, the Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit.

Another is the type of cars to be used on such an expansion, with DOT studying the possible acquisition of double-decker cars as are used on the New Jersey Transit line. Meanwhile, Connecticut is waiting for 300 new M-6 cars being built by Kawasaki Rail Car, which won't be delivered until 2009.

Studying the possibilities is certainly worth the effort, despite a similar approach several years ago that found it wanting. That should be no obstacle to a new look at the proposal.

Still, as James Cameron, chairman of the Metro-North Rail Commuter Council said, "If there was an easy solution, we would have done it years ago."