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'A lot to be desired': Grand Central Madison train service causes LIRR commuter headaches
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Clayton Guse
Published Feb 28, 2023
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Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutterstock
By
Catalina Gonella
and
Clayton Guse
Published Feb 28, 2023
Share
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Ken Lieber used to take the LIRR from Oceanside on Long Island directly into Atlantic Terminal to get to his teaching job in Carroll Gardens. But now, due to the LIRR’s new schedules that rolled out this week, he has to transfer at Jamaica Station every morning.
“I used to rave about my commute and how much I loved it. Now I can no longer say that,” Lieber told Gothamist on Tuesday. “The trains are a lot more crowded, so I’m dealing with being jammed in like a sardine and paying $277 a month for really next to nothing.”
The MTA launched its full service for Grand Central Madison on Monday, bringing up to 24 trains per hour into the new station on Manhattan’s East Side set deep beneath Grand Central Terminal. MTA officials said the full launch of the schedules into the new station represents a 40% service boost for the LIRR on weekdays. But it also requires the MTA to move some trains that used to service Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal to the new station, forcing some passengers who used to take direct trains into those stations to transfer at Jamaica.
The frustrations were made worse on Tuesday morning as a signal problem forced the MTA to redirect some LIRR trains bound for Grand Central to Penn Station.
Tracey Chavis got on a train that was experiencing service issues and left Atlantic Terminal late on her way home Tuesday afternoon. She used to take one train directly to her neighborhood, but now has to transfer at Jamaica.
“And guess what, the train going into Queens had already left the [Jamaica] station, so that meant not being able to get on the train for another 20 minutes, so I’m still waiting for the train to go home,” she told Gothamist standing on a train platform at Jamaica.
When the trains are on time, however, she has to make a mad dash between platforms to make the connection in time — squeezing onto a packed escalator or bolting up the stairs to the mezzanine and walking several tracks over, then back down another set of stairs.
“We have two minutes to get all the way over to track 12, which is four tracks over,” she said. “Instead of the track being on the next platform, where we can walk to it, we actually have to run up the escalators or the steps to get to the train, which gives us about two minutes to get there before the doors close.”
Several commuters expressed concern over the hustle required to make transfers.
“What if you have health issues? What if you have some issues that don’t allow you to move really fast?” Chavis said.
The MTA announced plans to overhaul the LIRR’s schedules last year, and planned to open the new service by the end of 2022. But another round of hiccups for the long-delayed project pushed back the opening by nearly two months — and the MTA gave riders less than three weeks’ notice before the schedules would finally change.
"What we’ve tried to do is accommodate as many customers as possible. We’re providing 41% more service across the board than we were before with multiple transfer opportunities, a lot more frequency, a lot more flexibility in terms of how our customers travel around the region, regional connectivity here at Grand Central to Metro-North, so it’s just different," said Catherine Rinaldi, president of the Metro-North Railroad and interim president of the LIRR, in an interview with WCBS 880 on Monday. "And I think people will accustom themselves to these differences. We’ll find the trips that work for them."
Dean Morelli takes the LIRR from Long Beach to Atlantic Terminal. On Tuesday, he said the rollout of the new schedules was confusing, and he’s already missed multiple trains.
“There’s a great point to having trains going to Grand Central. Hopefully it’ll build the city back up by having it more convenient for people to come through Grand Central but the execution leaves a lot to be desired,” he told Gothamist. “Tonight, it’s taking me an extra 45 minutes.”
The MTA’s work to bring LIRR trains to Manhattan’s East Side dates back to the 1960s. MTA officials restored work on the project in the 1990s after it was stalled. By 2001, officials expected the new service to open in 2011 at a cost of $4.3 billion. Its completion ran nearly 12 years late and more than $7 billion over budget.
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manhattan
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Catalina Gonella
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Clayton Guse
Clayton is the editor of the Transit and Infrastructure desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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