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Grand Central Madison is a commuter rail terminal for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) currently under construction in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, being built as part of the East Side Access project. The new terminal, sometimes referred to as the LIRR's East Side station, started construction in 2008 and is planned to open in December 2022.[1] It is located beneath Grand Central Terminal, which serves the MTA's Metro-North Railroad.[2]

Grand Central Madison
Lower level passenger platform construction, 2022
General information
Coordinates	40°45′09″N 73°58′42″W
Owned by	Long Island Rail Road
Line(s)	Main Line
Platforms	4 island platforms
Tracks	8
Connections	Metro-North Railroad: Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines at Grand Central Terminal MTA New York City Subway: ​​​​​ trains at Grand Central–42nd Street NYCT Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M42, M101, M102, M103, Q32 MTA Bus, Academy Bus: express services
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opening	December 2022 (planned)[1]
Future services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station Terminus Port Washington Branch Woodside toward Great Neck or Port Washington Port Jefferson Branch Woodside toward Huntington Babylon Branch Woodside toward Babylon Oyster Bay Branch Limited Service Woodside toward East Williston Ronkonkoma Branch Woodside toward Greenport via Ronkonkoma Hempstead Branch Woodside toward Hempstead West Hempstead Branch weekdays Woodside toward West Hempstead Long Beach Branch Woodside toward Long Beach Far Rockaway Branch Woodside toward Far Rockaway

The Long Island Rail Road has terminated on the west side of Manhattan, at Penn Station and its predecessor, since 1910. The new terminal aims to ease congestion at Penn Station and decrease travel times for passengers going to and from the east side of Manhattan.

The new terminal will provide transfers to the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines, as well as the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station.

Services

The station will serve the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line,[3] which connects to all passenger branches and almost all stations.[4] However, due to clearance restrictions in the 63rd Street Tunnel, the C3 bilevel coaches used in diesel territory will not be able to use the terminal, thus not allowing for direct trips to and from non-electrified portions of the system (e.g., to/from Oyster Bay or Port Jefferson), requiring passengers from diesel portions of the system to transfer.[5]

History

The first proposals for Long Island Rail Road trains entering the east side of Manhattan date to 1963.[6] In 1968, the 63rd Street Tunnel and a new "Metropolitan Transportation Center" at 48th Street and Third Avenue were proposed for the LIRR as part of the Program for Action.[7] After people living near the proposed transportation center objected, the MTA's board of directors voted to use Grand Central as the terminal for the proposed LIRR route in 1977.[8] However, due to the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, the LIRR project was postponed indefinitely before the 63rd Street Tunnel could be completed.[9]

The East Side Access project was restarted after a study in the 1990s that showed that more than half of LIRR riders work closer to Grand Central than to the current terminus at Penn Station.[10] Cost estimates jumped from $4.4 billion in 2004,to $6.4 billion in 2006,[11] then to $11.1 billion by 2017.[12][13] The new stations and tunnels are anticipated to begin service in December 2022.[1]

The MTA originally planned to build and open additional entrances at 44th, 45th, 47th, and 48th Streets.[14]^: 3[15][16]^: 5 The station would connect to existing entrances at Grand Central North. The new LIRR station would also contain 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.[16]^: 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.[16]^: 7 The MTA would also connect the new station to the existing 47th Street cross-passage.[14]^: 3[15] The escalators would be up to 180 feet (55 m) long and descend more than 90 feet (27 m). The escalators and elevators would be among the few privately operated escalators and elevators in the entire MTA system.[17]

The station's official name, Grand Central Madison, was chosen in May 2022,[18][19] following reports of the name's potential two months prior.[20] The new name references the station's location beneath parts of Grand Central Terminal and the "Madison Avenue corridor".[21]

Station layout

v t e Planned track map
Legend
Upper level
63rd Street Tunnel to Woodside to lower level 204 202 203 201 Storage tracks continue 1,700 feet (520 m)
Lower level
to upper level 304 302 303 301 Storage tracks continue 1,700 feet (520 m)
Key
Passenger service tracks Yard/storage tracks
Map not to scale

The station will have an area of 700,000 square feet (65,000 m²), including 120,000 square feet (11,000 m²) for passengers and 25,000 square feet (2,300 m²) of retail space.[22][23]

Concourse

The retail and dining concourse, called the Madison Concourse, will be accessed from street level or the Metro-North terminal via stairwells, 22 elevators, and 47 escalators.[17][24] The number of elevators in this terminal would exceed the 19 elevators in the remainder of the LIRR system combined.[17] The escalators will measure 182 feet (55 m) long.[25]

Entrances to the LIRR terminal will exist from Grand Central Terminal's Dining Concourse and Biltmore Room. Additionally, the MTA plans to build and open new entrances to the LIRR station at 45th, 46th, and 48th streets.[26][27] As of 2021^[update], the 45th Street entrance alone was projected to serve 10,000 passengers per day.[25]

Mezzanine

A mezzanine will sit on a center level between the LIRR's two track levels.[24][28] Reaching the street from the lowest new level, more than 175 feet (53 m) deep, will take about 10 minutes.[29]

Platforms and tracks

LIRR trains will arrive and depart from the twin station caverns and through a tunnel that will sit 180 feet (55 m) below Park Avenue and more than 90 feet (27 m) below the Metro-North tracks.[29][17][30]

The LIRR terminal will add four platforms and eight tracks (numbered 201–204 and 301–304) in two bi-level caverns.[31] There will be four tracks and two platforms in each of the two caverns, and each cavern would contain two tracks and one platform on each level.[24][28]

References

External links

• Media related to Grand Central Madison at Wikimedia Commons

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