East Side Access
MTA Long Island Rail Road
Grand Central Connection

Overview
The Grand Central Connection  |  The Need  | New Regional Transportation Capacity  |  Benefits At A Glance

THE GRAND CENTRAL CONNECTION

The East Side Access (ESA) project will connect the Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) Main and Port Washington lines in Queens to a new LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The new connection will increase the LIRR’s capacity into Manhattan, dramatically shorten travel time for Long Island commuters, provide a new commuter rail station in Sunnyside Queens—and much more.

When completed in 2012, the East Side Access project—the largest construction project ever undertaken by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)—will carry more customers than all but four other commuter railroads in the country, and will profoundly affect the lives not only of Long Island commuters but also of transit users, motorists and residents throughout the New York metropolitan region.

back to top

THE NEED

Metropolitan New York is home to the nation’s most extensive—and most used—rail transit network, serving nearly 6 million riders per day. Because the network is operating at or near capacity and is not fully interconnected, millions of travelers are delayed by indirect routing and/or overcrowding.

The LIRR is the largest suburban commuter railroad in the country, with a daily passenger load totaling 269,000 travelers, 240,000 of whom use Penn Station. Thousands of these Penn Station users must take another form of transportation or walk a good distance to reach jobs on Manhattan’s East Side. In addition, LIRR trains using Penn Station—which is at or near its service limits—share the terminal with Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT trains. Penn Station will be hard pressed to accommodate more service from each rail line—service that is necessary to address future ridership growth.

back to top

NEW REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION CAPACITY

The ESA project provides a solution. The project will shorten the travel time for thousands of Long Island commuters headed for Manhattan’s East Side. And, by rerouting some LIRR trains to Grand Central Terminal, it will ease the crowding at Penn Station while allowing for additional trains to serve commuters whose destination is Manhattan’s West Side.

In so doing, the ESA project will have a ripple effect on the region’s transportation network, its economy and its quality of life. Dramatically improving conditions throughout the LIRR network and at Penn Station, it will create new transportation capacity that is essential for regional growth, and help reduce auto travel and associated pollution.

back to top

BENEFITS AT A GLANCE

The ESA project will stimulate regional growth and development in a variety of ways. It will:

• Increase rail capacity into Manhattan from Long Island and Queens by nearly 50 percent, saving East Side-bound commuters 30-40 minutes per day

• Contain urban sprawl, by supporting job and income growth in the area around Grand Central Terminal

• Support the growing Long Island City and Jamaica, Queens business districts through a new station at Sunnyside and a connection to Airtrain at Jamaica

• Provide more opportunity for NYC residents to get to jobs on Long Island by increasing reverse commuting

• Improve conditions at Penn Station by relieving congestion

• Enable easy transfers at Grand Central between Long Island and Metro-North destinations in the Bronx, Westchester, Hudson Valley and Connecticut

• Fully use the existing 63rd Street Tunnel for the first time

• Reduce auto travel by 375,000 miles per day and reduce associated air pollution

• Create thousands of jobs in construction and related industries in New York

• Provide direct intermodal connections to the NYCT subways

back to top

Overview  |  From Long Island To Grand Central Terminal  |  Project Elements
Project Schedule  |  Milestones to Date  |  Construction Activities  |  In The News
Notable Quotes  |  Project Leadership  |  Public Outreach  |  Publications  |  Procurement