East Side Access
| East Side Access | |
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Overview of the location of work being done for the East Side Access project
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| Overview | |
| Type | Commuter rail |
| System | Long Island Rail Road |
| Status | Under construction |
| Locale | New York City |
| Termini |
Sunnyside Yard (Queens) Grand Central Terminal (Manhattan) |
| Stations | 2 |
| Services | All City Terminal Zone routes |
| Ridership | 162,000 (proposed) |
| Website | Official website |
| Operation | |
| Planned opening | December 2022 |
| Owner | Metropolitan Transportation Authority |
| Operator(s) | MTA Long Island Rail Road |
| Character | Underground |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Track length | 6.1 mi (9.8 km) |
| Number of tracks | 2 |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrification | 750V DC third rail |
 "What Is East Side Access?", Metropolitan Transportation Authority; January 29, 2010; one-minute YouTube video clip (requires Adobe Flash Player) |
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"The East Side Access Project", MTA Long Island Rail Road; February 18, 2010; 6:19 YouTube video clip (requires Adobe Flash Player) |
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"East Side Access Soft Ground TBM Launch", Metropolitan Transportation Authority; April 7, 2011; 2:22 YouTube video clip (requires Adobe Flash Player) |
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"East Side Access – 1/24/2012 Update", Metropolitan Transportation Authority; January 24, 2012; 1:51 YouTube video clip (requires Adobe Flash Player) |
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"East Side Access Project Update 2", MTA Long Island Rail Road; March 5, 2012; 7:39 YouTube video clip (requires Adobe Flash Player) |
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"East Side Access 9/21/2012 Update", Metropolitan Transportation Authority; September 21, 2012; 2:27 YouTube video clip |
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"East Side Access 9/11/2015 Update", Metropolitan Transportation Authority; September 11, 2015 YouTube video clip |
East Side Access is a public works project being undertaken by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City. It is designed to bring the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) into a new East Side station to be built below, and incorporated into, Grand Central Terminal. The new terminal and connecting tracks are expected to cost $10.178 billion and are scheduled to start service in December 2022.
Extending between Sunnyside, Queens, and Grand Central, the project will route the LIRR from its Main Line through new track connections in Sunnyside Yard and through the lower level of the existing 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River. In Manhattan, a new tunnel will begin at the western end of the 63rd Street Tunnel at Second Avenue, curving south under Park Avenue and entering a new LIRR terminal beneath Grand Central.
The new LIRR terminal at Grand Central, located 14 stories below ground, will feature a total of four platforms and eight tracks, plus a new 350,000-square-foot retail and dining concourse. It will initially be accessed via stairwells, 22 elevators, and 47 escalators connecting to Grand Central's existing food court, in comparison to the 19 escalators in the remainder of the LIRR system. The MTA plans to build and open additional entrances at 45th, 46th, and 48th streets. The escalators would be up to 180 feet (55 m) long and descend more than 90 feet (27 m). The escalators and elevators are to be partially privately operated, one of the only such instances in the entire MTA system.
Current plans call for 24-trains-per-hour service to Grand Central during peak morning hours, with an estimated 162,000 passenger trips to and from Grand Central on an average weekday. Connections to AirTrain JFK at Jamaica Station in Jamaica, Queens, will facilitate travel to John F. Kennedy International Airport from the East Side of Manhattan. However, the tunnels of the East Side Access can only be used by M3, M7, and M9 railcars due to a height restriction created when the 63rd Street Tunnel was first built. C3 railcars and EMD DE30AC and DM30AC locomotives will not be able to use the tunnels.
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Wikipedia