Grand Central Madison Is All Aboard For Full LIRR Service

NEW YORK CITY — A long-promised commuter gravy train officially rolled into Grand Central’s new terminal for the first time.

The new Grand Central Madison fully opened Monday for full-scale Long Island Rail Road service.

The opening directly links the east side of Manhattan to Long Island — a goal of New York officials going back decades, as Gov. Kathy Hochul recounted Sunday in an celebratory event attended by a slew of prominent officials.

“It's here,” she said. “The day has finally arrived.”

Grand Central Madison is part of a nearly $12 billion project under the existing Grand Central Terminal. The new facility is the largest passenger rail terminal to be built in the U.S. in 67 years and the biggest change to LIRR service in more than a century, MTA officials have said.

Dubbed "East Side Access,” the terminal will provide full LIRR service to the job-rich area in eastern Midtown.

New schedules will increase service by 41 percent, provide more frequent stops in Queens and Brooklyn and bring true reverse-peak service to LIRR’s Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma Branches, officials said.

Grand Central Madison had opened in January, but only provided shuttle service back-and-forth to Queens.