Now NYC transit can get you straight from JFK to Grand Central Station
The long-awaited direct Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail service connecting New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport with Grand Central Station in Manhattan is completed, making seamless rail trips from JFK in Queens to the centrally located Midtown East train station a reality for the first time.
The Grand Central Madison
terminal annex opened late January beneath Grand Central Terminal, a 700,000-square-foot, two-level concourse with four passenger platforms and eight tracks.
Service between Grand Central Madison terminal and the Jamaica station in Queens borough is operated by the Long Island Rail Road, or LIRR, the busiest commuter rail line in North America.
Whereas previously, the only direct rail service option between JFK and Manhattan was from Penn Station, farther west, the Grand Madison Central station offers direct service between JFK and East Midtown, offering local city dwellers, commuters and other travelers a more convenient transit option.
From the airport, travelers can take the JFK AirTrain to Queens’ Jamaica station as usual. From there, they now have the option to board LIRR’s trains bound for Grand
Central Madison as well as those headed to Penn Station.
The anticipated benefits of the new rail hub include saving over 160,000 passengers per day as much as 40 minutes on their trips, increasing train capacity to and from Manhattan by 50% and alleviating crowing at Penn Station and the surrounding subway lines, according to the MTA.
The new transportation hub came with a price tag of more than $11 billion.