A roaring opening week for Grand Central Madison’s train service Gov. Kathy Hochul called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to get back on track.
The MTA launched full service to Grand Central Madison early last week, sending trains to the new station on Manhattan’s East Side under Grand Central Station. But the transition was far from smooth, with passengers scurrying up and down stairs to catch connecting trains and packing into cars on the final stages of their journeys. This eventually led Hochul on Sunday to direct the MTA to modify its service from Monday with more rush hour service to Brooklyn and longer cars serving Penn Station.
“The historic opening of Grand Central Madison marked the first expansion of LIRR service in 100 years, and to ensure the success of the new station, we must be responsive to the needs of our passengers,” Hochul said in a statement. “Customers deserve a world-class mobility experience, and that’s what we’re working hard to achieve with these changes. We’re committed to continuing to listen, monitor, and make changes to deliver high-quality service, communication, and consistency to New Yorkers.”
The move required some trains that used to serve the Pennsylvania Terminal at Atlantic Terminal to instead travel to the new terminal, forcing some passengers who used to take direct trains to transfer on Jamaica instead.
Hochul said the Long Island Railroad will ramp up its rush-hour service to Brooklyn by adding trains over the next week. She said the goal was to average nine minutes between trains in Jamaica during peak hours on Monday, with more regular service starting on Tuesday. The governor also said that 17 trains bound for Penn Station will be lengthened, along with other cars that exceeded passenger capacity last week.
“The changes that were made starting late last week and those that are scheduled to go into effect Monday are data-driven adjustments to reduce wait times and reduce congestion where it happens,” said Kathryn Rinaldi, Interim Long Island Rail Road President and President of Metro-North. “We said we’ve been looking at every train and every line to assess where customers aren’t getting the level of service they expect and expect. These changes are steps toward ensuring a better experience going forward, while continuing to operate more comprehensive services to more NYC stations than any other.” time at LIRR. We will continue to monitor passenger trends and loading conditions and make adjustments as necessary.”
Brooklyn commuters were advised to check the TrainTime smartphone app for new Atlantic Jamaica station options.
The governor also directed the MTA to expand its customer service presence to assist commuters during the transition period.
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