Grand Central Madison to fully open on Feb. 27

MTA officials said Wednesday that the Long Island Rail Road will begin full service to its new Grand Central Madison station on Feb. 27, adding 271 trains to its schedule, but also potentially inconveniencing some Penn Station and Brooklyn riders.

The Long Island Rail Road on Wednesday published its full schedule for the service, which will come about a month after the LIRR began serving the 700,000-square-foot station on Manhattan’s East Side with shuttle service. Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Janno Lieber called the planned launch “transformational” for Long Island.

“This is the switch over where the full benefit of this incredible expansion of Long Island Rail Road service [is] going to start to be experienced,” Lieber said. “We’re so excited that our riders are going to be able to get acquainted with the new schedules in the next two-and-a-half weeks.”

The MTA chairman noted that LIRR commuters will see the largest service increase in the railroad’s history, and also more opportunities for “reverse commuters” traveling to and from jobs on Long Island during the rush hour. 

“Faster, more convenient travel that brings Long Island and the City closer together is a major shot in the arm for the regional economy,” Lieber said. 

But not all LIRR riders stand to benefit from the overhauled schedule that comes with the new service. The 41% increase in service that the MTA has touted is compared to current schedules, which include fewer trains than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The service increases also include trains making additional stops in Queens, and a new Atlantic Terminal shuttle train from Jamaica that replaces most direct trains between stations on Long Island and in Brooklyn.

The schedule also includes fewer morning rush hour trains to Penn Station. Rush hour schedules will alternate between trains bound for Penn Station, and those bound for Grand Central. All trains will stop at Jamaica, but the LIRR is doing away with direct transfers, meaning trains will not wait for connections.

Ian Siegel, who commutes between Glen Cove and Atlantic Terminal, said the schedule changes could add as much as 20 minutes to his travel time in the morning, and up to an hour in the evening. 

"It basically upends my entire life, and not in a good way," Siegel said. "I've been looking forward to this for like the last 20 years. And now this big, $11 billion project that was supposed to be this wonderful thing for everybody, really looks like it's only going to benefit those who go into Grand Central."

The schedule changes have been particularly derided by commuters on the Port Washington line, which is not routed through Jamaica. Commuters on that line are also losing some express trains to and from Penn, lengthening their commutes.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.