East Side Access

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East Side Access (ESA) is a completed public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) two miles from its Main Line in Queens to the new Grand Central Madison station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. Previously, the only Manhattan stop for trains from Long Island was Pennsylvania Station, on the west side of the island. The new station and tunnels opened with limited service to Jamaica station in Queens on January 25, 2023, before full service began the following month, on February 27. Built by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the project was originally scheduled to open in 2009 but was delayed by more than a decade. The estimated cost of the project rose over threefold from US$3.5 billion to US$11.1 billion as of April 2018, making it one of the world's most expensive underground rail-construction projects. The new LIRR terminal contains eight tracks and four platforms in a two-level station 100 feet (30.5 m) below street level. It was built in conjunction with several other LIRR expansion projects, including the construction of a third track along the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville. The project was intended to remove or reduce the need for subway transfers for a large number of riders with jobs on the east side of Manhattan. East Side Access was based on transit plans from the 1950s, though an LIRR terminal on Manhattan's East Side was first proposed in 1963. The planned LIRR line was included in the 1968 Program for Action of transit improvements in the New York City area. Lack of funds prevented the construction of any part of the connection other than the 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River. Plans for the LIRR connection were revived in the late 1990s....