The full Long Island Rail Road terminal in Grand Central Station opened Monday. The East Side Access project into Manhattan took two decades to complete and cost over $11 billion – $7 billion over budget. A soft launch of Grand Central Madison opened in January.
The terminal stretches 15 stories below Madison Avenue and spans from New York City’s 43rd to 48th street. The LIRR is one of the busiest commuter railroads in North America. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects that LIRR service will increase by 41% as a result of the expansion.
“I know that we’re improving the quality of life for our commuters coming in from Long Island and Queens,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul at the opening ceremony. Hochul described how this new expansion will allow riders easier access to the east side of the city as opposed to backtracking all the way across the city through Penn Station. MTA officials said this new route will shorten commute times for people working in midtown Manhattan.
Hochul also noted that 274 more trains will run on weekdays between Long Island and midtown Manhattan. The new terminal is expected to add almost 300 trains to the schedule, which is about a third of service coming into Grand Central, increasing the total number of trains running to almost 1,000.
“The dramatic uptick in reverse commuting made possible by this project unlocks access to thousands of good paying Long Island jobs for folks in Queens and Brooklyn,” MTA chair Janno Lieber said.
However, the proposed changes have received some criticism from riders on the Oyster Bay branch, who are concerned the expansion will increase their commute times. Several local lawmakers sent a letter to Lieber, saying the new expansion will reduce eastbound trains.
“The new schedules provided by the MTA show that the trips on the Oyster Bay line are actually getting longer in most cases and less trains are headed eastbound during rush hour. Additionally, there is more time between trains. As taxpayers, Oyster Bay riders helped shoulder a part of the financial burden for the expansion, yet our service is getting worse,” wrote State Assemblymember Charles Lavine (D-Glen Cove) and Glen Cove City Councilwoman Danielle Fugazy Scagliola.
LIRR interim president Catherine Rinaldi, who is also president of Metro-North, acknowledged that while this new route is historic and transformational, “nothing is ever perfect,” and the railroad will be monitoring ridership closely. A petition to improve service on the Oyster Bay line has garnered over 1,500 signatures.
While some LIRR branches will see service increases up to 50%, the Oyster Bay Branch will only have an increase of 10%, going from 28 weekday trains to 32. The new plan replaces timed transfers between Long Island and Brooklyn, instead opting for shuttle service at Jamaica.
