LIRR Service to Grand Central

[jis]

Looks like wonders never cease and we will actually get LIRR Service to Grand Central soon!

LIRR Makes Inaugural Ride Into Grand Central Terminal

The long-anticipated and long-delayed rail route from Long Island to Grand Central Terminal is nearing reality

www.nbcnewyork.com

 

[Dutchrailnut]

first one we know off, rail seem to be pretty shiny already and no it is not from work trains

 

[Seaboard92]

Well I'm sure they allowed politicians to ride that route they did a lot of testing.

 

[PVD]

clearance, power and signaling have been ongoing.... I teach classes in the electrical trade, and when power went live, I had some students that were re assigned, no apprentices on live track, and if trains are running, workers generally require track safety certification from the agency in charge of the track (NYC-TA MTA LIRR MTA MNRR) I surmise one exists for PATH, but I don't know anyone that has taken it.

 

[jis]

First Look: East Side Access Test Ride - Railway Age

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials on Oct. 31 marked an East Side Access project milestone: test riding a Long Island Railroad train into Grand Central Terminal.

www.railwayage.com

 

[jis]

The official name of the new deep underground station for LIRR East Side Access under Grand Central and Madison Avenue has been decided apparently to be "Grand Central Madison".

 

[caravanman]

Will the station "below" Grand Central have a separate entrance, or will passengers use the Grand Central entrance hall? I would like to take a train from Grand Central one day!

 

[trainman74]

Will the station "below" Grand Central have a separate entrance, or will passengers use the Grand Central entrance hall? I would like to take a train from Grand Central one day!

If you believe the Wikipedia page, there will be several street entrances leading to the new station, as well as entrances from inside the current Grand Central. So it looks like the answer to your question is "both."

 

[jis]

The official word from MTA in an announcement....

Introducing LIRR service to Grand Central

Long Island Rail Road service to a new terminal, Grand Central Madison, will launch by the end of 2022.

new.mta.info

 

[JeanA]

I didn't think it would actually happen in my lifetime.

 

[west point]

I didn't think it would actually happen in my lifetime.

Hope your life will last longer than that.

 

[jis]

LIRR has posted a draft schedule for its service to Grand Central Madison.

LIRR to Grand Central: Draft Schedules

We have created a draft systemwide schedule for when LIRR service to Grand Central begins. See the draft timetables.

new.mta.info

The amount and frequency of LIRR service in the City Zone is really impressive for both Penn Station and Grand Central.

 

[railiner]

The official name of the new deep underground station for LIRR East Side Access under Grand Central and Madison Avenue has been decided apparently to be "Grand Central Madison".

View attachment 28568

I would have liked it better if they took a page from old Boston's book, and called it: "Grand Central Under"

 

[Fenway]

I didn't think it would actually happen in my lifetime.

It boggles the mind that it has taken almost 33 years for the 63rd Street Tunnel to finally be fully operational.

Now if the MTA can pull this off ( they say 2027 )

Penn Station Access

The MTA will create an extension of Metro-North Railroad‘s New Haven Line to reach Penn Station. This will create four new accessible stations, improve existing tracks and bridges, and will cut travel times from the Bronx to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes.

new.mta.info

Transit improvements in Manhattan move at a pace that makes a snail look like Secretariat ( Second Avenue Subway )

34th Street–Hudson Yards station opened 7 years ago and today it has become one of the busiest stations in the city as the Manhatten West development has exploded.

We will never see a direct link between Grand Central and Penn Station and I pray that the North River Tunnels and Portal Bridge connecting NYP and New Jersey are upgraded in my lifetime.

 

[railiner]

We will never see a direct link between Grand Central and Penn Station and I pray that the North River Tunnels and Portal Bridge connecting NYP and New Jersey are upgraded in my lifetime.

I still think the best way to go, would be to extend the ESA tunnels a few more blocks south, and then connect them to the existing tunnels, or add new ones into Penn Station. And they should build connections from the new station beneath Grand Central up to the existing Park Avenue tunnels. This would offer tremendous flexibility for future thru services, or althernates in case of major service disruptions on any line...

 

[Dutchrailnut]

it would be impossible as water tunnel 1 is in way and its forbidden to dig within certain distance of this NY city lifeline.

 

[joelkfla]

Public Info Session with nice overview of the terminal and the new schedule:

 

[west point]

it would be impossible as water tunnel 1 is in way and its forbidden to dig within certain distance of this NY city lifeline.

As understood once waater tunnel #3 is finished and connects to WT #1 south of NYPS then maybe new East River tunnel bores 5 and 6 can go by WT #1.

 

[John819]

As understood once waater tunnel #3 is finished and connects to WT #1 south of NYPS then maybe new East River tunnel bores 5 and 6 can go by WT #1.

The "choke point" for going east-west is Sixth Avenue. WT#1, the Sixth Avenue subway, many utility lines, south of 34th street the PATH tracks. Any connection would need to be very deep to avoid these.

 

[JeanA]

I looked at the new schedules and I don't think they are too bad. This would have shaved a lot of time off my 40-ish years of commuting since I had to backtrack from Penn to Midtown East almost my entire career. (Trying really, really hard to resist doing the math out of curiosity...)