Interactive map Red and blue: new tunnels. Green: existing 63rd Street Tunnel. Points denote new stations.
Overview
Status
Full service
Owner
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Locale
New York City
Termini
Sunnyside Yard/Harold Interlocking (Queens)
Grand Central Madison (Manhattan)
Stations
2
Website
Official website
Service
Type
Commuter rail
System
Long Island Rail Road
Services
City Terminal Zone
Operator(s)
MTA Long Island Rail Road
Ridership
162,000 daily (projected)
History
Commenced
September 2007 (2007-09)
Opened
January 25, 2023 (2023-01-25)[1]
Technical
Line length
2 mi (3.2 km)
Track length
6.1 mi (9.8 km)
Number of tracks
2–8
Character
Underground
Track gauge
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification
Third rail, 750 V DC
Route map
Legend
East River
Northeast Corridor
to Boston
LIRR Main Line
to Greenport
63rd Street Subway
Sunnyside Yard
Metro-North main line
Harold Interlocking
63rd Street Subway
63rd Street Tunnel
Midday Storage Yard
Sunnyside
Arch Street Yard
Hunterspoint Avenue
Grand Central
Montauk Branch
to Montauk
Long Island City
NEC & LIRR
to Penn Station
East River Tunnels
East Side Access route
Other routes
This diagram:
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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, and 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[update], making it one of the world's most expensive underground rail-construction projects.
The new LIRR terminal contains eight tracks and four platforms in a two-level station 100 feet (30.5 m) below street level. It was built in conjunction with several other LIRR expansion projects, including an additional track along parts of the Main Line. The project was intended to remove or reduce the need for subway transfers for a large number of riders with jobs on the east side of Manhattan. Previously, the only Manhattan stop for trains from Long Island was Penn Station, on the west side of the island.
East Side Access was based on transit plans from the 1950s, though an LIRR terminal on Manhattan's East Side was first proposed in 1963. The planned LIRR line was included in the 1968 Program for Action of transit improvements in the New York City area. Lack of funds prevented the construction of any part of the connection other than the 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River. Plans for the LIRR connection were revived in the late 1990s. The project received federal funding in 2006, and construction began the following year. The tunnels on the Manhattan side were dug from 2007 to 2011, and the connecting tunnels on the Queens side were completed in 2012. Afterward, work began on other facilities related to the line, such as new platforms at Grand Central, ventilation and ancillary buildings, communication and utility systems, and supporting rail infrastructure in Queens. The project's completion was delayed several times during construction.
^"Introducing special Grand Central Direct service". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
EastSideAccess (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...
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N, Q, R and W trains), providing easy access to Lower Manhattan. With the opening of EastSideAccess, service between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica...
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part of a series of LIRR readiness projects in preparation for the EastSideAccess extension to Grand Central Terminal, the MTA had adjusted track layouts...
Global Information
