Every day, 750,000 visitors pass through Grand Central Terminal (GCT), making it the largest hub for train traffic in the world. Congestion on crowded regional rail lines is common during morning and evening rush hours, and passengers rely on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to take them where they need to go.
AECOM is providing program and construction management, as well as structural engineering and architectural design for the new Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) terminal within GCT. This is the largest construction project ever undertaken by the MTA.
The East Side Access project will increase rail capacity between Long Island and Manhattan by nearly 50% and save LIRR’s East Side-bound travellers 30 to 40 minutes a day with its ‘one seat ride’ direct connection into GCT. The primary components of the project include the following:
- New tunnel connections in Queens to connect the LIRR Main Line and Port Washington Branch to the 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River
- New hard-rock tunnel boring machines tunneling deep under midtown to a new LIRR terminal directly beneath the existing lower level of GCT
- New station caverns directly below the GCT train shed
- A new passenger concourse
