The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) East Side Access project is on schedule to be completed at the end of 2022. The long-awaited project will provide a direct connection for all 11 Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) lines to a new concourse below Grand Central Terminal.
This new 700,000-square-foot terminal will be known as Grand Central Madison. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking at a press conference unveiling the new name for the terminal, says the space is designed to be more than a waypoint to pass through. The 35,000-square-foot concourse will feature retail, restaurants, Wi-Fi and other amenities.
"This is an exciting, historic moment for New York State, Long Island and the MTA as New Yorkers are just months away from being able to seamlessly ride a train between East Midtown and Long Island," Gov. Hochul said. "Grand Central Madison - the largest new passenger rail terminal built since the 1950s - will be a game-changer for Long Island, allowing the LIRR to dramatically expand service and operate more reliably for commuters and reducing overcrowding at Penn Station. We will continue to build back stronger from the pandemic and deliver state-of-the-art, 21st century infrastructure worthy of New Yorkers."
The new Grand Central Madison terminal is located below Grand Central Terminal and Madison Avenue from 43rd Street to 48th Street. The terminal is a key element in the $11.1 billion East Side Access that represents the largest expansion of LIRR service since the East River Tunnels opened in 1910 as part of the original Pennsylvania Station. Gov. Hochul noted when trains first ran between Long Island and Penn Station, the population of Long Island was approximately 37,000; it now sits at 2.8 million. The two new tunnels constructed as part of the project will increase train capacity to and from Manhattan by 50 percent and the Grand Central Madison terminal is expected to host approximately 45 percent of LIRR commuters, which should ease crowding at Penn Station.
"The MTA has worked hard over the past four years - including throughout the pandemic - to hold to the 2022 opening date," said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. "We reimagined project management to ensure adjacent contracts were carefully coordinated to avoid delay-causing conflicts; simplified the change-order process; empowered project managers and transformed an insufficiently detailed schedule with only 8,500 activities into 40,000 distinct items and activities that could be tracked and completed."
According to MTA, the new terminal will have eight tracks and four platforms on two new levels, all designed with passive wayfinding to help orient returning users through subtle color shifts by location. All tracks and platforms are fully separated from Metro-North Railroad, ensuring that neither railroad causes delays to the other.
"The Long Island Rail Road workforce and contractors worked safely throughout the pandemic to keep this project on track, and I want to applaud their commitment," said MTA Construction & Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. "The completion of this project will increase LIRR peak hour capacity, and in combination with the LIRR Third Track project, make a true reverse commute between Manhattan and Long Island a reality."
The new terminal name isn’t the only East Side Access news with LIRR releasing draft timetables this week for when the East Side Access project opens. The timetables show proposed systemwide service and LIRR is planning a series of public information sessions on the draft timetables.
