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East Side Access
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. Previously, the only Manhattan stop for trains from Long Island was Pennsylvania Station, on the west side of the island. The new station and tunnels opened with limited service to Jamaica station in Queens on January 25, 2023, before full service began the following month, on February 27.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) project was originally scheduled to open in 2009 but was delayed by more than a decade. 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 the construction of a third track along the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville. 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.
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.
The East Side Access project was based on regional planning proposals that were first brought up in the 1950s. In March 1954, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) issued a $658 million construction program. The proposal included a tunnel for the Second Avenue Subway, which would cross the East River between 76th Street in Manhattan and Astoria in Queens before continuing onto the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)'s Main Line in Queens. The 76th Street tunnel proposal resurfaced in 1963, though the location of the tunnel was changed several times thereafter. In 1965, the NYCTA finally decided to build the subway tunnel at 63rd Street.
The first proposals to bring LIRR service to a terminal in eastern Midtown Manhattan arose in 1963. To facilitate planning for this terminal, a third track was added to the plans for the 63rd Street subway tunnel in April 1966. The track would serve LIRR trains to east Midtown, alleviating train traffic into Penn Station on Manhattan's west side while integrating the LIRR with the subway. A fourth track was added to the plans in August 1966 after it was determined that LIRR trains would be too large to run on subway tracks. This amendment increased the number of LIRR tracks to two, and provided segregated tracks for the LIRR and the subway.
In February 1968, the NYCTA's parent company, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), released the Program for Action, which proposed numerous improvements to subway, railway, and airport service in the New York metropolitan area. The plan included a new LIRR terminal at a proposed Metropolitan Transportation Center at Third Avenue and 48th Street in East Midtown. It also included connections to Grand Central Terminal, with a new northern entrance leading to the center, and the Second Avenue Subway, among other transit services. The new LIRR line was to branch off from existing lines in Sunnyside, Queens, and enter Manhattan using the new two-level 63rd Street Tunnel. The upper level was to be used by the New York City Subway's 63rd Street lines and the lower level was to be used by the LIRR. According to renderings of the transportation center, the mezzanine would be placed above four island platforms and eight tracks, which would be split evenly across two levels, similar to the present terminal under Grand Central.
Construction on the project began in 1969. Four 38-foot-square (12 m) prefabricated sections of the 63rd Street Tunnel were constructed in Delaware and towed the East River, the first of which was delivered in May 1971. That first section was lowered into place on August 29, 1971, and the last section was lowered on March 14, 1972. The double-deck, 3,140-foot (960 m) tunnel under the East River was "holed through" on October 10, 1972, with the separate sections of tunnels being connected. The estimated cost of the project was $341 million, and the MTA applied for $227 million in Federal funds.
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East Side Access
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. Previously, the only Manhattan stop for trains from Long Island was Pennsylvania Station, on the west side of the island. The new station and tunnels opened with limited service to Jamaica station in Queens on January 25, 2023, before full service began the following month, on February 27.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) project was originally scheduled to open in 2009 but was delayed by more than a decade. 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 the construction of a third track along the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville. 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.
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.
The East Side Access project was based on regional planning proposals that were first brought up in the 1950s. In March 1954, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) issued a $658 million construction program. The proposal included a tunnel for the Second Avenue Subway, which would cross the East River between 76th Street in Manhattan and Astoria in Queens before continuing onto the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR)'s Main Line in Queens. The 76th Street tunnel proposal resurfaced in 1963, though the location of the tunnel was changed several times thereafter. In 1965, the NYCTA finally decided to build the subway tunnel at 63rd Street.
The first proposals to bring LIRR service to a terminal in eastern Midtown Manhattan arose in 1963. To facilitate planning for this terminal, a third track was added to the plans for the 63rd Street subway tunnel in April 1966. The track would serve LIRR trains to east Midtown, alleviating train traffic into Penn Station on Manhattan's west side while integrating the LIRR with the subway. A fourth track was added to the plans in August 1966 after it was determined that LIRR trains would be too large to run on subway tracks. This amendment increased the number of LIRR tracks to two, and provided segregated tracks for the LIRR and the subway.
In February 1968, the NYCTA's parent company, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), released the Program for Action, which proposed numerous improvements to subway, railway, and airport service in the New York metropolitan area. The plan included a new LIRR terminal at a proposed Metropolitan Transportation Center at Third Avenue and 48th Street in East Midtown. It also included connections to Grand Central Terminal, with a new northern entrance leading to the center, and the Second Avenue Subway, among other transit services. The new LIRR line was to branch off from existing lines in Sunnyside, Queens, and enter Manhattan using the new two-level 63rd Street Tunnel. The upper level was to be used by the New York City Subway's 63rd Street lines and the lower level was to be used by the LIRR. According to renderings of the transportation center, the mezzanine would be placed above four island platforms and eight tracks, which would be split evenly across two levels, similar to the present terminal under Grand Central.
Construction on the project began in 1969. Four 38-foot-square (12 m) prefabricated sections of the 63rd Street Tunnel were constructed in Delaware and towed the East River, the first of which was delivered in May 1971. That first section was lowered into place on August 29, 1971, and the last section was lowered on March 14, 1972. The double-deck, 3,140-foot (960 m) tunnel under the East River was "holed through" on October 10, 1972, with the separate sections of tunnels being connected. The estimated cost of the project was $341 million, and the MTA applied for $227 million in Federal funds.