Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal
Clockwise from top left: 42nd Street facade; underground Metro-North platform and tracks; Main Concourse; iconic clock atop the information booth
General information
Location89 East 42nd Street
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Owned by
  • New York Central & Hudson River Railroad (1913–1914)
  • New York Central Railroad (1914–1968)
  • Penn Central Transportation Company (1968–1994)
  • American Premier Underwriters (1994–2006)
  • Midtown Trackage Ventures (2006–2020)
  • Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2020–present)
Operated by
  • New York Central & Hudson River (1913–1914)
  • New York Central (1914–1968)
  • New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (1913–1968)
  • Penn Central (1968–1976)[N 1]
  • Amtrak (1971–1991)
  • Conrail (1976–1983)
  • Metro-North Railroad (1983–present)
Managed byGeorge Monasterio (director)
Line(s)Park Avenue main line
Platforms44: 43 island platforms, 1 side platform
(6 tracks with Spanish solution)
Tracks67: 56 passenger tracks (30 on upper level, 26 on lower level)
43 in use for passenger service
11 sidings
Connections Long Island Rail Road
at Grand Central Madison
New York City Subway:
​​​​​
at Grand Central–42nd Street
NYCT Bus: M1, M2, M3, M4, M42, M101, M102, M103, Q32
NYCT Bus, MTA Bus, Academy Bus: express services
Construction
Platform levels2
AccessibleAccessible[N 2]
Other information
WebsiteOfficial website
Key dates
Construction1903–1913
Opened February 2, 1913 (February 2, 1913)
Passengers
FY 201867 million annually, based on weekly estimate[3]  0.6% (Metro-North)
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station
Terminus Harlem Line Harlem–125th Street
toward North White Plains, Southeast or Wassaic
Hudson Line Harlem–125th Street
toward Croton–Harmon or Poughkeepsie
New Haven Line Harlem–125th Street
toward Stamford or New Haven
New Canaan Branch
weekday service
 Harlem–125th Street
toward New Canaan
Danbury Branch
weekday service
 Harlem–125th Street
toward Danbury
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
125th Street
toward Chicago
 Main Line Terminus
125th Street
toward Peekskill
 Hudson Division
125th Street
toward Chatham
 Harlem Division
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Terminus Main Line Harlem–125th Street
toward New Haven
Preceding station Amtrak Following station
Croton-Harmon
toward Chicago
 Lake Shore Terminus
Croton-Harmon
toward Detroit (Michigan Central)
 Niagara Rainbow
Yonkers
toward Montreal
 Adirondack
Yonkers
toward Niagara Falls, New York
 Empire Service
Yonkers
toward Toronto
 Maple Leaf
Former services (pre-1913)
Preceding station New York Central & Hudson River Railroad Following station
110th Street
Until 1906
toward Peekskill
 Hudson Division Terminus
86th Street
Until 1901
toward Chatham
 Harlem Division
72nd Street
Limited
toward Chatham
Interactive map
Coordinates40°45′10″N 73°58′38″W / 40.75278°N 73.97722°W / 40.75278; -73.97722
ArchitectReed and Stem;
Warren and Wetmore
Architectural style(s)Beaux-Arts
Visitors21.6 million (in 2018)[4]
DesignatedDecember 8, 1976
Reference no.75001206
DesignatedJanuary 17, 1975
August 11, 1983 (increase)
Reference no.75001206, 83001726
New York State Register of Historic Places
DesignatedJune 23, 1980[5]
Reference no.06101.000365
New York City Landmark
DesignatedAugust 2, 1967 (facade)
September 23, 1980 (interior)
Reference no.0266 (facade)
1099 (interior)
Location

Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also serves the Long Island Rail Road through Grand Central Madison, a 16-acre (65,000 m2) addition to the station located underneath the Metro-North tracks, built from 2007 to 2023. The terminal also connects to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station. The terminal is the third-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station and Toronto Union Station.

The distinctive architecture and interior design of Grand Central Terminal's station house have earned it several landmark designations, including as a National Historic Landmark. Its Beaux-Arts design incorporates numerous works of art. Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions,[6] with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers.[4] The terminal's Main Concourse is often used as a meeting place, and is especially featured in films and television. Grand Central Terminal contains a variety of stores and food vendors, including upscale restaurants and bars, a food hall, and a grocery marketplace. The building is also noted for its library, event hall, tennis club, control center and offices for the railroad, and sub-basement power station.

Grand Central Terminal was built by and named for the New York Central Railroad; it also served the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and, later, successors to the New York Central. Opened in 1913, the terminal was built on the site of two similarly named predecessor stations, the first of which dated to 1871. Grand Central Terminal served intercity trains until 1991, when Amtrak consolidated its New York operations at nearby Penn Station.[N 3]

Grand Central covers 48 acres (19 ha) and has 44 platforms, more than any other railroad station in the world. Its platforms, all below ground, serve 30 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. In total, there are 67 tracks, including a rail yard and sidings; of these, 43 tracks are in use for passenger service, while the remaining two dozen are used to store trains.[N 4]

  1. ^ Baer, Christopher T. A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT 1972 (PDF). p. 20. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MTA-GCT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference ridership was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference tourists was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  6. ^ Shields, Ann (November 10, 2014). "The World's 50 Most Visited Tourist Attractions – No. 3: Times Square, New York City – Annual Visitors: 50,000,000". Travel+Leisure. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2018. No. 3 Times Square,...No. 4 (tie) Central Park,...No. 10 Grand Central Terminal, New York City


Cite error: There are <ref group=N> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=N}} template (see the help page).

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.