The East Side Access Project Discussion (ESA)

Today's Newsday suggests three weeks of Jamaica-Madison shuttles. I think treating the GCT crowd as poorly as the Brooklyn folk will tell the bosses how NOT to do it. Nobody gets a one-seat ride. And, westbound, many will have to trudge up and over to a different platform. I bet they'll use track 4 for the shuttles.
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No matter when I walk into the Flatbush Avenue terminal, I take the first train leaving. (At one time, however, I recall a Brooklyn train scheduled to skip Jamaica.)
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When GCT gets on schedule, I will sit inside a Babylon train to get a one-seat r ide to Wantagh.

Here's the link to the Newsday story
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/tra ... s-vgcvbq8m

Sounds like what they are doing is exactly what they did when they electrified the Ronkonkoma Branch.

12/28/1987-1/17/1988: Three weeks of electric service with 3 Eastbound & 3 Westbound trains to and from Ronkonkoma and Penn Station.

1/18/1988: Ronkonkoma Branch begins full-time electric service.

Matt, not exactly the same. The Ronkonkoma-Penn trains offered a one-seat ride. The rumored scheme is to make all GCT passengers change at Jamaica for a few weeks. Now one story says something like "Shuttle service outside of rush hour."

Doing a soft launch before the full launch isn't a bad idea. It's a lot less disruptive, and as long as everyone knows it's a change at Jamaica, there's no expectations

Copied from LIRR website December 19 2022:
Grand Central Direct trains will operate between Grand Central Madison and Jamaica every 30 minutes during middays and on weekends, and hourly during weekday rush periods. They will be overlaid as additions to the LIRR’s existing timetables to ensure there are no changes to existing trains to Penn Station and other destinations.

During this initial period, the LIRR will have customer ambassadors on the Grand Central Madison concourse to greet customers and offer information about the new space.

The special Grand Central Direct service will conclude with the initiation of full train service mirroring what was put forward in draft schedules published last June. To enable travel planning, the MTA will provide at least three weeks’ notice before the new full schedules go into effect.

It may not be a one-seat ride as Ronkonkoma 35 years ago, but I compared it to that because they are not starting out with a bang. Come 2023, people will have one-seat rides to Grand Central or as they dub it "Grand Central Madison" from any station. Whether it be Babylon, Ronkonkoma, Huntington, Long Beach, Hicksville, and Far Rockaway. As the Killers sang in "When You Were Young:" That's taking easy, easy now watch him go! We're burning down the highway skyline on the back of a hurricane, that started turning when you were young.

Kelly&Kelly wrote: ↑Tue Nov 29, 2022 7:24 pm Anyone else notice the entire mezzanine is laid out for conversion to subway-type automatic fare collection?

Not surprising in the least. OMNY is coming to MNRR and LIRR at some point, I can see it working like Septa Key on commuter rail. Fare gates in the city, freestanding validators at outlying stations.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/tra ... 2-nk43xk2z
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I can see this happening:

On December 31 around 11:55pm over the PA at GC.

"Last call for the 11:57pm train to Jamaica, now boarding on Track 204. Last call for the 11:57pm train to Jamaica. Making stops at Woodside and Jamaica... Last call"

The news release will say service started in 2022.
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That is definitely a 3 chuckles post. Give us more !

From a week ago: Faulty fan holding up opening of $11B LIRR terminal at Grand Central - New York Post - December 21, 2022

A single, “underperforming” fan could upend plans to open the long-delayed, $11.6 billion Long Island Railroad terminal beneath Grand Central, the MTA said Wednesday.

“That is literally the only thing that is keeping us from opening at this point,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber told reporters after breaking the news at the authority’s monthly board meeting.

“An $11 billion project is depending on that fan — or that series of ducts — pulling enough air to satisfy the code standard.”

No follow-up that I could find, and I could find nothing on that in MTA's site.

I think that if LIRR's Grand Central Direct service opens this year, it will open December 31. That is a Saturday, a common day of the week for opening rail-system extensions.

Nope... apparently now its several things..... can we say total mess.... clu***r f**k
Opening date January (notice they didnt say what year....)

notes
LIRR on Twitter: "A quick update about our Grand Central service:
Grand Central Madison will not open this week. In our final system testing we’ve identified some additional work that will take more than a few days to complete.
We hope to open the new terminal as soon as possible in January." / Twitter

Grand Central Madison Opening Date Pushed: Here’s When New LIRR Stop Will Open? – NBC New York - "Grand Central Madison Won't Open in 2022 — Here's Target Date for NYC's New LIRR Stop"

That's because the safety system testing has not yet been completed, according to Jamie Torres-Springer, the president of MTA"s construction and development.

"As was described at the MTA Board meeting last week, the opening of Grand Central Madison and Long Island Rail Road GCM service is contingent on the conclusion of system testing, in line with our commitment to safety. One particular zone in the 700,000 square-foot terminal requires additional work that will take more than a few days. Given the logistics of concluding testing and launching service, we have advised MTA Chair Janno Lieber that the terminal will not open this week," a statement from Torres-Springer said.

Grand Central Madison LIRR opening delayed - “We will coordinate with the Federal Railroad Administration to open the new Terminal and commence LIRR service as soon as possible in January,” said JTS.

No date, however.

Other reports noted more issues and likely opening might be February or March at earliest.

They (and we) just can't catch a break with this project.

Maybe with the pressure off they'll figure out the PTC issues for opening as well... wasn't it only a 30-90 day waiver needed?

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