After two-and-a-half decades, the MTA’s East Side Access Project to connect the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and Grand Central Terminals will finally come to fruition. The 700,000-square-foot station and crosstown connection will debut as Grand Central Madison.
When complete, Grand Central Madison will introduce eight new train tracks. This expansion will facilitate an increase in the number of rush hour trains in and out of Manhattan and shave approximately 40 minutes off the commute from the Long Island Railroad to Midtown East.
At a press conference hosted near the entrance of Grand Central Madison, Governor Kathy Hochul committed to completing the project by the end of this year.
“When the LIRR was built, there were 37,000 people living on Long Island – that’s one of the smaller towns today,” said Hochul. “Today, the number is 2.8 million. So, the connection of all 11 lines to Grand Central was desperately needed. When it’s done, it’s going to make a difference in people’s lives.”
View inside the Grand Central Madison transportation hub and connection
View inside the Grand Central Madison transportation hub and connection
View inside the Grand Central Madison transportation hub and connection
View inside the Grand Central Madison transportation hub and connection
The MTA estimates the frequency of morning rush hour trains to increase from 113 to 158. During evening rush hour, outbound trains will jump from 98 to 115.
The agency is also working on new train schedules which will be issued in the coming weeks. This includes trains running every 30 minutes to Huntington and Ronkonkoma, and every 15 minutes to Mineola and Hicksville. Service to and from Brooklyn will increase by about 28 percent.
“Let’s declare this as the year we finally accomplished this extraordinary transformation, what will now be the Grand Central Madison concourse,” said Governor Hochul. “It’s not just going to be a place you’re going to walk through. You’re going to have incredible retail experiences, and food and a bar, so you can have that cocktail as you’re ready to go.”
Governor Hochul touring the Grand Central Madison transportation hub and connection
Since construction broke ground in the 1990’s, total project costs have ballooned to an estimated $11.1 billion. Due to a confluence of operational hurdles, the need for extensive tunnel repairs following Hurricane Sandy, and gaps in financing, the anticipated completion date puts the access project nearly 13 years behind schedule.
For the MTA, which could see a massive uptick in post-pandemic ridership, the new station is arriving just in time.
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Decades behind schedule and billions over budget – another example of why we can’t have nice things.
Whoever at the MTA predicted a 2009 opening must have had a hole in their head. Even so, a dozen years overdue is beyond the pale. Every massive infrastructure project is usually delayed with a blown budget, just look at Crossrail. And those are supposed to be the competent experienced ones. ESA seems to be in a category all by itself though. People will love it and it’s going to be great but the MTA has got to get control of the execution of its capital projects.
This is how public infrastructure projects are implemented in New York. You provide a bogus budget to make it palatable to near-term minded politicians, and then jack up the cost and schedule once money has already been committed. Then it becomes the liability of the next guy.
This project is literally a new train station 150 feet below Midtown Manhattan. I also think the $11bn includes a lot of the supporting work, inclusive of new train storage yards, Harold interlocking work, and the third track to Hicksville. The cost doesn’t seem too bad when you ignore its initial cost estimates.
The amount of time it takes to get infrastructure projects done in this city is just depressing.
For the amount and expense we should have gotten new tunnels running south to lower Manhattan and a new East river crossing and connection to Atlantic Terminal for loop thru-running of LIRR.
Totally agreed! Additional tunnels to Jersey would also be important to build
Oh, please. I’m almost 74 y/o. I was a brand new lawyer in 1975 when the 57th St. Station on 6th Ave opened. It took decades for the double-decker 63rd tunnel and extensions to the IND & BMT to open, albeit with the LIRR tracks having nowhere to go. Now, the final piece is being completed. All in my adult lifetime. What the commentators, above, don’t appreciate is that what should take years takes decades in the City. Just hold on. Maybe the 2nd Ave extension will be completed when you reach my age.
The city also went bankrupt in that period of zero progress. Distilled down to its essence, the city and the MTA’s culture has been just strive for maintaining the service that we have. Ambitious expansion as next to impossible was a forgobe conclusion for an entire generation.
Now, if only there was some way to get trains from here to loop around Citi Field and go to the new LGA terminals on a frequent basis.
This is a 11 BILLION DOLLAR BOONDOGGLE if there ever was one.
What a waste of money
We blow that EVERY year on NYPD.
Actually this is likely one of the most worthwhile transit projects the region has seen in decades, it just shouldn’t have cost 11 billion dollars.
A “boondoggle” denotes something that is useless or foolhardy (like the dropped LGA Airtrain). That’s not what this is.
Do you have a good take on anything?
I am glad that ESA is finally close to completion. But it has operational boondoggle written all over it. I seriously doubt that the LIRR has hired and trained enough people across operations for this to go smoothly. And if it does go smoothly it will be on the backs of operations and a certain future scandal and headlines over how much overtime was spent to increase service. It’s not just Transportation needing more train crews, but MoE to keeping trains running and clean, and MOW especially Signal. And when the Hicksville to Queens 3rd track opens it will require more track, 3rd rail men, signal, station cleaners, and bridge inspectors. You can’t hire a trained rail road worker off the street. The training investment is not inconsequential. And today very few people want a career that will have you on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. My 2 cents.
Consider that the 63rd street tunnel under the East River was completed in 1989 before the LIRR started using bi-level rail cars. The tunnel cannot accommodate them. Keep that in mind as they’re trying to figure out how to schedule the LIRR trains.
whoop de doo. this is catered to suburbanites. when are we going to get going for city dwellers? we need that brooklyn-queens ibx train and to bring second avenue home to hanover square. so open this eastside access money pit mess already and get crackin mta.
Even on Saturday late afternoons, I have often been surprised by the overcrowding at the LIRR Penn Station. Hopefully, this project will reduce this.
Grand Central has over 40 platforms the MTA could’ve built a direct connection to the existing platforms and order the M7s to have 3rd rail rail contact shoes that can use over/under 3rd rail like the M8s.This move could’ve saved a lot of money!