The first new LIRR station in Manhattan in more than a century fully opened Monday morning amid celebration and frustration as thousands of Long Islanders saw their commute time cut en route to Grand Central Madison and others were mired in confusion and delays .
Two decades in the making and costing $11.1 billion, the station — part of the East Side Access mega-project — welcomed its first commuters just before 6 a.m. when a train departing from Hempstead pulled in.
At the Jamaica station Monday morning, confusion was evident among several LIRR drivers whose commutes have been disrupted by the schedule changes. Workers in orange vests helped travelers find their train. A broken escalator didn’t help.
Brooklyn commuters have been particularly disoriented as they transfer to a new platform on the south side of Jamaica for Atlantic Terminal commuter trains. Joan Sanders was out of breath as she boarded her train and had seconds before it departed. “I didn’t even know these tracks existed,” she said.
WHAT TO KNOW
After a soft opening of Grand Central Madison On January 25, the LIRR launched the full service plan at the new terminal along with a drastic overhaul of its schedule.
MTA officials say the new terminal will reduce travel times for commuters working in Manhattan’s East Midtown area and includes several new trains for “return commuters” traveling to and from Long Island workplaces.
But the new schedule also includes fewer morning trains to Penn Station, requires more frequent transfers, eliminates timed services in Jamaica, adds local stops on many trains that previously ran Express, and eliminates most direct trains between Long Island and Atlantic Terminal.
Some drivers waiting for a transfer in Jamaica expressed confusion and anger at platform changes and delayed trains. A few MTA employees on the platforms between the tracks pressed for answers.
“I’m getting information at the same time as you are,” one worker told Greg Golub, 62, of Long Beach.
Golub, who works as vice president of operations near Atlantic Terminal, told Newsday his experience with the new train schedule has been “terrible”.
Golub said he was likely to be late for work after narrowly missing a train departing from platform 11 and then rushing to platform 3, where a train from Atlantic Terminal pulled in 14 minutes late.
“How long have you been planning this, 20 years? You can never get it right,” he said.
Later, around 8:40 a.m., passengers angrily gathered between the platforms. Some told a reporter that tracks had been changed, one train was canceled and another train bound for Penn Station was too full for more passengers to board.
“The Long Island Rail Road is terrible. Now they’ve made it so easy for Grand Central passengers and horrible for us,” Teresa Gomez said as she boarded a train bound for Penn.
‘Big thing’
In Huntington, Dix Hills’ Peter Piazza paused – and smiled – when he saw Grand Central as the train’s destination on the tracks. He said he’s been a commuter for 35 years and looks forward to traveling to Grand Central near his office at 48th and Park Avenues.
“I can eliminate Subway for the first time, that’s a big deal for me,” he said. “Just the idea of not having to factor in the subway. It took me almost three hours to get home on Thursday evening because of problems with the subway.”
He said it’s also a time and cost saver.
“It’s $5.50 a day to take the subway and it adds up over time,” he said. “It’s a significant cost savings because you don’t have to take the subway every day.”
Huntington resident Mike Wilson said he had waited years for this day: an opportunity to catch a train from Huntington Station on Manhattan’s East Side.
“I work in the Bronx, so it’s a lot easier,” he said as he waited for the 6:33 a.m. train from Huntington. “From there I go to Grand Central and then to Metro North instead of Penn Station. I get about 15 or 20 minutes extra time. That is very convenient.”
Longer commutes for some
But Greg Monfiletto, 45, who was at Ronkonkoma station Monday morning, said the new train schedule has delayed his commute.
A native of Stony Brook, who works at St. Francis College in downtown Brooklyn, he boarded the 7:10 a.m. train to Grand Central instead of his usual 7:40 a.m. train direct to Atlantic Terminal.
He now has to change trains in Jamaica while other Brooklyn passengers rely on the shuttle train service on the south side of the station.
When asked if the $11.1 billion project was worth it, he said, “Not at all.”
He later emailed that his transfer to Jamaica was delayed by 14 minutes. “Well it’s day 1, I hope it can only get better,” he wrote.
The impact on Brooklyn commuters is “probably not the fairest thing,” he said, although he acknowledged LIRR officials had asked commuters to be patient during the transition period.
LIRR officials tweeted at 9:22 a.m. that the system was operating “on schedule or near schedule” after some earlier delays by Jamaica due to signal problems near the station. “There may be some residual delays, but we expect these to ease,” the statement said.
Morning commuters arrive at Manhattan’s new Grand Central Madison LIRR station on Monday. Photo credit: Howard Schnapp
Rush hour commuters arrived in Grand Central Madison for the first time Monday morning looking both awed and confused by their new surroundings.
“It’s much nicer . . . It’s not dirty. It doesn’t smell. It’s such a better experience. . . Hopefully it doesn’t expire,” said Kevin Kashinejad of Great Neck, a jeweler who works on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. He expects to cut his commute by 20 minutes each way. “I come out of here and I’m literally right there. This is a life changer.”
Valley Stream accountant Mark Mingelgreen is “not so sure yet” his new commute will save him time. Although he works near Grand Central, he expects it will take him significantly longer to get from his train to the street than it would in Penn.
“It’s pretty far down, pretty deep underground. A long escalator ride. I wouldn’t want to go if it doesn’t work. . . So it probably won’t make much of a difference in terms of my commute.”
A steady stream of commuters flowed through Grand Central during the morning rush hour, but the new station, which spanned six blocks and four levels, never looked busy. Commuters snapped photos of the marble walls and art installations, and marveled at the length of the escalators.
After a one-minute, 38-second ride from the mezzanine level, commuters were greeted inside the concourse by LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi.
Like dozens of LIRR “ambassadors” stationed throughout the station, Rinaldi answered questions from disoriented passengers about where to find the subway or an exit to a specific street corner.
“I think that’s a problem on the first day. As soon as they use the service, they can of course orientate themselves better. But we have a lot of people here helping people,” Rinaldi said, adding that most of the drivers she spoke to were “really positive.”
“These are people who work on the East Side, so they’re really excited that they commute so much faster than they did when they went to Penn, so they’re generally pretty comfortable with their commute,” Rinaldi said in one Interview.
“Everyone has been talking about this project since 1963. Being here on opening day with a busy schedule, with all these happy people, is like the thrill of a career.”
Accidentally at Grand Central
Reviews for the LIRR’s new service schedule were more mixed among commuters traveling to destinations other than Grand Central, such as Brooklyn. A commuter to Atlantic Terminal accidentally ended up at Grand Central after transferring via the Jamaica train platform as usual. She rushed to board a train back to Jamaica to get back on course.
Bay Shore commuter Valerie Winberry, 34, who commutes in Woodside, said she has to get up earlier for her train, “which is a bit difficult before 6am.” When she arrived in Jamaica, she said she received conflicting information about where to find her connection.
“I’ve been taking the train for eight years now and it’s the same timetable for me. So now it’s like a different adjustment coming into town and finding out where I’m going,” said Winberry, an assistant principal. “It usually runs like clockwork. You go and it’s like second nature. Now it’s like learning a whole new system.”
“I’ve always felt sorry for all the people who would come into Penn Station and take the subway just to get to work.”
-Sandy Reis, 63, from Port Washington
Credit: Newsday/Matthew Chayes
At Penn Station, Sandy Reis, 63, of Port Washington, who works in the construction business for a firm at 7th Avenue and 56th Street and is working with the MTA on a project in Penn, said the move means fewer scheduled trains to Penn normal target. But, he said, he sees the change as serving the greater good.
“I guess I’d say I’m a little biased, but it’s still a good thing because I’ve always felt bad for all the people that come into Penn Station and have to get on the subway, just to get to work. Now you can go straight to Grand Central,” he said after catching the 6:15 a.m. train from Port Washington Monday.
He said he even sees a silver lining: less crowded trains to Penn.
“Commuters have been known to complain and whine, but that’s actually an improvement,” he said.
Melissa Koenig, 28, a reporter for the Chron newspaper who lives in Nesconset, was at Ronkonkoma station Monday morning to catch an early train into town. She was happy as she can now leave half an hour later and still get to work on time for her 8am start. Instead of waking up at 5:15 a.m., she can now snooze until 5:45 a.m., she said.
“It gives me an extra half hour, which is great,” she said.
Sydney Murphy, 24, of Setauket, said the new Grand Central line will save her a transfer to Jamaica.
“It’s a lot easier,” said Murphy, who works as an executive assistant at Madison Avenue.
“I don’t have to worry about a transfer. If something is delayed, I don’t have to worry about changing trains.”
-Fran Zeoli of Huntington Station
Credit: Newsday/Deborah Morris
Huntington Station’s Fran Zeoli said the trains aren’t just beneficial for commuters traveling to the east side of Manhattan. She said it’s a five-minute walk from Woodside Station to her place of work. With these new trains, she no longer has to change trains in Jamaica to get to and from Woodside.
“Now I can actually get on the train and go straight to Woodside. I don’t have to worry about changing trains. If something’s delayed, I don’t have to worry about changing trains,” she said as she waited for the 7:40 a.m. train in Huntington. “It is great.”
Adam Desouki, 37, of Lake Grove, was also not on his way to the new station, but was on his way from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station on Manhattan’s west side. He said the new line hasn’t affected his commute much, although he did point out fewer trains would be going to Penn.
“It’s funny, I think Grand Central would have been nice a few years ago. But a lot of companies have moved west,” said Desouki, an engineer working in the Hudson Yard area.
The 700,000-square-foot facility on the East Side is the first major inner-city rail terminal to be built in the United States in nearly 70 years and the first LIRR station to open in Manhattan since Penn Station in 1910.
It was 60 years in the planning and had a long history of delays, cost overruns and mismanagement.
According to MTA officials, the first morning rush hour Monday was scheduled to arrive in Grand Central at 5:48 a.m. and depart Hempstead at 4:58 a.m. It was the beginning of the first full rush hour at the station after a soft opening a few weeks ago.
Rinaldi last week called the new service plan “historic and transformative” for Long Island commuters.
“During rush hour, a Long Island Rail Road train runs to Penn or Grand Central about every three minutes. Customers working in East Midtown don’t need to take the subway or walk across town,” Rinaldi said. “It will be a new way to ride the Long Island Rail Road.”
Rinaldi acknowledged that “nothing is ever perfect,” and said the railroad will closely monitor passenger and travel patterns.
LIRR acting chief customer officer Shanifah Rieara said the railroad will deploy “hundreds of additional ambassadors throughout the system,” including in Grand Central, to help passengers and answer their questions.
Following a pre-opening on January 25, LIRR operates limited shuttle service between Grand Central Madison and Jamaica. On Monday, the LIRR launched its full-service plan, which includes a drastic overhaul of its schedule. The railway is expanding its timetable by 271 trains to a total of 936 trains. Of these, 296 trains will serve the new station built beneath Grand Central Terminal.
MTA officials say the new terminal, which stretches six blocks below Vanderbilt Avenue between 43rd and 48th Streets, will reduce travel times for commuters who work in Manhattan’s East Midtown neighborhood, “the largest job Hub in America,” said Rinaldi. The new service schedule also includes several new trains for “return commuters” traveling to and from Long Island workplaces.
And with Metro-North also operating out of Grand Central, LIRR riders will have new rail service to routes throughout the region, including the Bronx, the Hudson Valley, and Connecticut’s Fairfield and New Haven counties.
But the new schedule calls for fewer morning trains to Penn Station, requires more frequent changes, eliminates timed services in Jamaica, adds local stops for many trains that currently run earlier than express, and eliminates most direct trains between Long Island and Atlantic Terminal. Most Brooklyn passengers instead rely on shuttle train service from a special platform on the south side of Jamaica Station.
This is an evolving story. Check for updates again.