Grand Central Madison is a commuter rail terminal for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the East Side Access project, the new terminal started construction in 2008 and opened on January 25, 2023. [5] The station sits beneath Grand Central Terminal, which serves the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Metro-North Railroad. [7]
Grand Central Madison was built to reduce travel times to and from Manhattan's East Side and to ease congestion at Penn Station, the West Side station where all Manhattan-bound LIRR trains had terminated since 1910. The new terminal enables passengers to transfer to Metro-North's Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines, as well as the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station.
The station serves the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line, [8] which connects to all passenger branches and almost all stations. [9] Service started on January 25, 2023 with a shuttle to Jamaica station. [5] Full service at the station began on February 27, 2023, with trains continuing beyond Jamaica to most branches. [10] [11]
Passengers traveling to and from non-electrified portions of the LIRR system (e.g., the Oyster Bay Branch or the Port Jefferson Branch east of Huntington) must transfer between trains because the bilevel C3 coaches used in non-electrified areas cannot fit through the 63rd Street Tunnel. [12]
Grand Central Madison also provides an alternative route from the east side of Manhattan and from Metro-North lines to John F. Kennedy International Airport, via a connection with the AirTrain JFK people mover at the Jamaica station. [13]
Formal proposals to bring Long Island Rail Road trains to the east side of Manhattan date to 1963. [14] In 1968, the 63rd Street Tunnel and a LIRR "Metropolitan Transportation Center" at 48th Street and Third Avenue were proposed as part of the Program for Action. [15] After people living near the proposed transportation center objected, the MTA's board of directors voted to route LIRR trains to Grand Central by 1977. [16] However, the LIRR project was postponed indefinitely during the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. [17]
The East Side Access project was restarted after a study in the 1990s showed that more than half of LIRR riders work closer to Grand Central than to Penn Station. [18] The cost of the project, estimated at $4.4 billion in 2004, jumped to $6.4 billion in 2006 [19] and to $11.1 billion by 2017. [20] [21] In May 2022, the MTA announced that the station would be named Grand Central Madison [22] [23] [24] because it sits under Grand Central Terminal and the "Madison Avenue corridor". [25]
The LIRR received operational control of Grand Central Madison on December 9, 2022, upon which the station and tracks became subject to Federal Railroad Administration regulations. [26] [27] The Grand Central Madison station's opening was delayed because of a single ventilation fan that could not exhaust enough air. [28] [29] At the end of December 2022, the MTA postponed the station's opening to January 2023. [30] [31] On January 23, an official opening date of January 25 was announced, paired with the first revenue service that morning. [32] [33] [5] The initial service was a shuttle, known as Grand Central Direct, to and from Jamaica station, with some trains running express and others making intermediate stops at Woodside, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens. [5] The MTA then announced on February 8 that it would implement full service on February 27. [34]
The Biltmore Connection to Grand Central Terminal's Biltmore Room opened in May 2023. [35] The MTA upgraded cellular service within the Grand Central Madison station and surrounding tunnels in late 2023. [36] [37] Additionally, at the time of the station's opening, the LIRR did not own a "rescue locomotive" that was small enough to tow disabled passenger trains through the 63rd Street Tunnel; its existing locomotives could only fit the larger dimensions of the East River Tunnels. [38] In early 2024, the MTA board voted to buy a battery-powered locomotive that could fit in the tunnel. [39]
Tracks Raw Bar and Grill became the first commercial tenant to sign a lease at Grand Central Madison in March 2024. [40] That April, the MTA issued a formal request for proposals for the station's retail space. [41] [42] The station was to have separate dining and retail areas; the MTA planned to lease out all of the storefronts by 2026. [41] Parts of the station remained incomplete as late as August 2024, a year and a half after the station opened. [43] [44] That month, the MTA began looking for a contractor to finish the last portions of the station at a cost of up to $50 million. [44] In October 2024, MTA and developer BXP began constructing a new entrance from the intersection of 45th Street and Madison Avenue, where BXP is developing a new building. [45] [46] At the time, the entrance was planned to be completed in 2026. [47] [48] A waiting area also opened at the station in late 2024, near the 47th Street entrance. [49] [50] The same year, UNESCO gave its 2024 Prix Versailles Interior Award to Grand Central Madison, naming the station as one of the most beautiful globally. [51] [52]
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The station has an area of 700,000 sq ft (65,000 m2), including 120,000 sq ft (11,000 m2) for passengers and 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) of retail space. [53] [54] There are 22 elevators and 47 escalators in the station; the escalator count exceeds the number of escalators in the remainder of the LIRR system. [55]
The retail and dining concourse, called the Madison Concourse, is accessed from street level or the Metro-North terminal via stairwells and elevators. [56] It is located at the same level of the western part of Metro-North's Lower Level, underneath tracks 38 to 42 of Metro-North's Upper Level, and Vanderbilt Avenue. [57] The concourse contains a ticket office, ticketed waiting area, nursing room, and customer service office under 47th Street. It also has restrooms, ticket machines, and retail spaces throughout the concourse. [58] The only seating in the terminal is within the ticketed waiting area, which contains 29 seats; passengers can be fined $50 if they stay in the waiting area for more than 90 minutes. An MTA spokesperson said the rule was an extension of an existing restriction at Grand Central Terminal and that "a customer should not have to wait more than 90 minutes to catch their train, barring a significant service disruption". [59]
The LIRR terminal has entrances from Grand Central Terminal's Dining Concourse and Biltmore Room. Additionally, the MTA built and opened new entrances to the LIRR station at 45th, 46th, and 48th streets. [60] [61] As of 2021 [update] , the 45th Street entrance alone was projected to serve 10,000 passengers per day. [62]
A mezzanine sits on a center level between the LIRR's two track levels. [56] [63] It is more than 140 ft (43 m) deep below Park Avenue, [57] and is connected to the Concourse via four banks of escalators up to 180 ft (55 m) long and descend more than 90 ft (27 m) under 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th Streets, [58] [62] in which one of its largest has more than five escalators. [64] One of these escalators is also the longest escalator in the city. [65] The escalators and elevators are among the few which are privately operated in the entire MTA system. [55] Additionally, the tiling around the sets of escalators and lights in the mezzanine near each set of escalators exhibits a degree of color coordination, with the set under 45th Street's lighting and tiling in shades of light green, 46th Street's in shades of blue, 47th Street's in shades of purple and 48th Street's in shades of cyan.
LIRR trains arrive and depart from the twin station caverns and through a tunnel located 140 ft (43 m) below Park Avenue and more than 90 ft (27 m) below the Metro-North tracks. [64] [55] [66]
The LIRR terminal contains four platforms and eight tracks (numbered 201–204 and 301–304) in two bi-level caverns. [67] There are four tracks and two platforms in each of the two caverns, with each cavern containing two tracks on one island platform per level. [56] [63]
The MTA originally planned to build and open entrances at 44th, 45th, 47th, and 48th Streets. [68] : 3 [60] [69] : 5 The station connects to existing entrances at Grand Central North. The new LIRR station also contains entrances at 335 Madison Avenue, near the southeast corner with 44th Street; at 270 Park Avenue and 280 Park Avenue near 47th and 48th–49th Streets, respectively; and at 347 Madison Avenue, on the east side of the avenue at 45th Street. An entrance on 46th Street between Lexington and Park Avenue was also built, connecting with Grand Central North. [69] : 5–6 However, the MTA later announced its intent to defer construction of an entrance at 48th Street because the owner of 415 Madison Avenue wanted to undertake a major construction project on the site. [69] : 7 The MTA also connected the new station to the existing 47th Street cross-passage. [68] : 3 [60]
Another entrance with an elevator, a stair, and two staircases is being developed at 45th Street as of 2024 [update] . [47] Two entrances north of 47th Street are being planned as well. [46]
Like the art in the original Grand Central Terminal, the new station includes permanent site-specific works of art. Among them are five large glass mosaics on natural themes by Kiki Smith. The Madison Concourse level contains River Light, an 80 ft-long (24 m) abstract, largely blue-and-white depiction of sunshine on the East River. [70] The other four, one level down in the LIRR mezzanine, are: The Presence, a landscape with a deer; The Sound, a seascape with a gull; The Spring, featuring four turkeys; and The Water's Way, a beach scene. "I wanted places for people to say, 'Meet you by the deer'," Smith told the New York Times. [70]
The Madison Concourse level also holds an even larger 120 ft-long (37 m) mosaic by Yayoi Kusama: "A Message of Love, Directly from My Heart unto the Universe". [70]
The Long Island Rail Road, or LIRR, is a railroad in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. The railroad currently operates a public commuter rail service, with its freight operations contracted to the New York and Atlantic Railway. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 75,186,900, or about 276,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
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Grand Central Terminal is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also contains a connection to the Long Island Rail Road through the Grand Central Madison station, a 16-acre (65,000 m2) rail terminal underneath the Metro-North station, built from 2007 to 2023. The terminal also connects to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station. The terminal is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station.
The Grand Central–42nd Street station is a major station complex of the New York City Subway. Located in Midtown Manhattan at 42nd Street between Madison and Lexington Avenues, it serves trains on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the IRT Flushing Line and the 42nd Street Shuttle. The complex is served by the 4, 6, and 7 trains at all times; the 5 and 42nd Street Shuttle (S) trains at all times except late nights; the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction; and the <7> train during rush hours and early evenings in the peak direction.
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The Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer station is the northern terminal station of the IND and BMT Archer Avenue Lines of the New York City Subway, located at Parsons Boulevard and Archer Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. It is served by E and J trains at all times, as well as Z trains during rush hours in the peak direction.
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) two miles from its Main Line in Queens to the new Grand Central Madison station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) project was originally scheduled to open in 2009 but was delayed by more than a decade. The new station and tunnels opened with limited service to Jamaica station in Queens on January 25, 2023, before full service began on February 27, 2023. The estimated cost of the project rose over threefold from US$3.5 billion to US$11.1 billion as of April 2018, making it one of the world's most expensive underground rail-construction projects.
The 63rd Street Tunnel is a double-deck subway and railroad tunnel under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Opened in 1989, it is the newest of the East River tunnels, as well as the newest rail river crossing in the New York metropolitan area. The upper level of the 63rd Street Tunnel carries the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. The lower level carries Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to Grand Central as part of the East Side Access project.
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The 21st Street–Queensbridge station is a station on the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 21st Street and 41st Avenue within Queensbridge in Long Island City, Queens, it is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush hours in the reverse peak direction.
The Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station is a New York City Subway station in Lenox Hill, Manhattan, shared by the IND and BMT 63rd Street Lines. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 63rd Street, it is served by the F and Q trains at all times; <F> trains during rush hours in the peak direction; limited rush hour N trains; and one A.M. rush hour R train in the northbound direction only.
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The Lexington Avenue/51st Street station is a New York City Subway station complex on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IND Queens Boulevard Line. The station is located on Lexington Avenue and stretches from 51st Street to 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan. It is served by the 6 and E trains at all times; the M train on weekdays during the day; the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction; and the 4 train during late nights.
Pennsylvania Station was a historic railroad station in New York City that was built for, named after, and originally occupied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). The station occupied an 8-acre (3.2 ha) plot bounded by Seventh and Eighth Avenues and 31st and 33rd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. As the station shared its name with several stations in other cities, it was sometimes called New York Pennsylvania Station. Originally completed in 1910, the aboveground portions of the building were demolished between 1963 and 1966, and the underground concourses and platforms were heavily renovated to form the current Pennsylvania Station within the same footprint.
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Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same site. The current structure was built by and named for the New York Central & Hudson River Railroad, though it also served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Passenger service has continued under the successors of the New York Central and New Haven railroads.
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