LIRR service to Grand Central Madison will start Wednesday: MTA

The long delayed Grand Central Madison station is finally set to open this week — though service will be limited for its initial launch, the MTA announced Monday.

The first train is set to leave Jamaica at 10:45 a.m., arriving at the new station located 150 feet under Grand Central Terminal just 12 minutes later at 11:07 a.m.

The announcement came nearly one week after Gothamist reported that the MTA started running empty trains to test service at the station. The agency previously planned to open the station by the end of 2022, a deadline set after years of construction delays and a pricetag at $11.6 billion, federal records show. The project was originally scheduled to wrap up in 2011 at a cost of $4.3 billion.

For at least the first three weeks, the LIRR will operate limited shuttle service between the two stations daily “so customers can acquaint themselves with the new terminal,” according to an MTA press release. Later, the agency will initiate full service, and will post schedules on its website and TrainTime app. Once that happens, the MTA plans to boost LIRR train service by 41%, officials said.

The debut service between Jamaica and Grand Central Maddison will operate between 6:15 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on weekends. Trains will run every 30 minutes in both directions during midday periods and on weekends, and once per hour during peak hours and directions.

Contributed reporting by Stephen Nessen.