MTA reaches completion on Grand Central-42 St Station revitalization project
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced the completion of a major upgrade of Grand Central-42 St subway station, following a half decade of improvements. Started in 2020, the Grand Central-42 St Circulation Improvement Project features enhancements that seek to improve the flow of passengers and make the transit hub more accessible for an estimated 400,000 daily riders through a variety of updates.
New station improvements include 14 new staircases, 24 existing staircases being widened, replacement of 10 escalators and an expansion of the mezzanine floor space by 20% in the public area. Further, the MTA installed one new street-to-mezzanine elevator, replaced one street-to-mezzanine elevator, and replaced three elevators that run from the mezzanine to the uptown Lexington 4, 5 and 6 lines, downtown Lexington 4, 5 and 6 lines, and Flushing 7 Line platforms.
“We took many different projects and put them together to a single, aggressively managed package,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “We are thrilled to celebrate that all this work was done on time and well ahead of budget.”
The project was completed within the expected timeframe, came in $46.5 million under budget and was supported by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding, including $94.1 million to replace eight escalators and $8.7 million to replace one hydraulic elevator at the Grand Central-42 St train station. Cost savings on the project was achieved through multiple efforts, including by the implementation of a design-build contract, which the agency says streamlined logistics and ensured a single point of accountability; by using labor already a part of the MTA workforce; project “piggybacking,” where crews perform work on multiple projects during a single planned service outage; and via consolidation of three projects into one streamlined program, resulting in overhead savings.
“This massive five-year project to completely rehabilitate the second busiest train station in America was completed on time and nearly $46.5 million under budget,” said MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “We’ve made generational improvements to the region’s crown jewel of public transportation, all while keeping subway service fast and reliable.”
Fare control areas were also installed, featuring 30 new turnstiles throughout the station, bringing the total number up to 92—a nearly 50% jump from what was in place five years ago. The agency says these features will better foot traffic circulation, improve congestion and strengthen accessibility to transit.
State of Good Repair work was also included in the project as part of the MTA’s “Revive” program, as well as upgrades made to the fire and security systems. The State of Good Repair work included new paint across more than 266,000 square feet, 436 square feet of new tiling and concrete, the upgrade of 1,377 lightbulbs to LED bulbs, repairs reinforcing structural integrity and water leak protection via new grouting. Fire prevention system upgrades included the installation of 214 smoke detectors and 470 fire alarms. Further, security upgrades were made, including the installation of 61 new CCTV cameras—a nearly 50% jump from 2020. New signage and 143 new public address speakers were also installed.
A new in-station passageway from Grand Central Terminal to the 7 Line platform was opened in February. A new staircase to the Flushing Line 7 platform was constructed, while crews also widened existing staircases by 25% to connect the Lexington Passageway to the existing passageway to improve the flow of passengers. Crews began work on this portion of the project in 2024, descending a 55-foot shaft and removing thousands of tons of dirt to perform a controlled blasts through the bedrock to create the new passageway beneath 42 Street while service still operated elsewhere in the terminal.