Draft Schedules Released in Early June Feature Increases in Peak AM & PM Service
More Options for Reverse Commuters
View MTA’s Grand Central Madison Trip Planner
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today introduced an online trip planner at gcmtrips.mta.info to allow Long Island Rail Road customers to plan trips to and from Grand Central Madison, Penn Station, Atlantic Terminal or any other stations once Grand Central Madison opens later this year. To use the trip planner, a customer can input station of origin, destination, time of travel, day of week and the planner will suggest itineraries and transfer opportunities.
The creation of the interactive tool complements draft timetables for every LIRR branch that were released in early June showing proposed systemwide service following the opening of the LIRR’s terminal at Grand Central Madison this year. The LIRR will hold a series of virtual public information sessions starting next week to gather public input on the timetables.
“The online trip planner will help LIRR customers see the many new travel opportunities that the opening of Grand Central Madison will bring to the Long Island Rail Road,” said Catherine Rinaldi, Interim President of MTA Long Island Rail Road and President of MTA Metro-North Railroad. "Once the public has an opportunity to plan their new commute, they will see how many new travelling opportunities the new, refreshed schedules provide to our beautiful new Grand Central Madison Terminal, revitalized Penn Station and our Brooklyn hub at Atlantic Avenue.”
“It’s important to show, not only Long Islanders, but everyone in the region that the opening of Grand Central Madison creates numerous opportunities to travel by commuter rail,” said MTA Chief Customer Officer Sarah Meyer. “We strongly encourage customers to use the trip planner to create their new commute and give us feedback at the public information sessions that start next week.”
Systemwide Service Increases Mean More Trains During AM Rush, PM Rush, Reverse Peak, Off-Peak
The timetables propose to increase the overall number of LIRR trains by 40 percent. The number of morning rush hour trains would increase slightly more than 40 percent and the number of afternoon/evening rush hour trains would increase by nearly 65 percent. Thanks to the new terminal and the LIRR Main Line Expansion Project (Third Track), reverse peak service would dramatically improve to Ronkonkoma, Huntington and all intermediate stops, as well as from Brooklyn, where service to Jamaica is increasing.
The timetables will improve the spacing of trains on many branches, reducing large gaps in service. During the off-peak hours of middays, evenings, and weekends, Huntington and Ronkonkoma will both have service to Manhattan every 30 minutes, with weekend Ronkonkoma Branch service doubling with the completion of the Double Track Project, that introduced 13 miles of a brand-new second track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, and the Main Line Expansion Project.
On the West Hempstead Branch, trains will run every hour during off-peak periods, twice as frequently as they do today, and the need to change trains at Valley Stream is eliminated. Stations in Queens will see service increases throughout the day, in both peak and off-peak periods.
"Change at Jamaica" Evolves
To reduce delays that can occur currently at Jamaica Station while trains wait for a connecting train, and to allow the LIRR to move significantly more trains through the station, trains will no longer have scheduled connections at Jamaica.
Manhattan-bound customers at rush hour on most branches, and all day on the busiest branches, will find plenty of options to take them to the terminal of their choosing without the need to change trains. For those who do need to transfer, all trains will now make station stops at Jamaica to reduce wait times. Once the schedules are finalized in the fall, the TrainTime app will be updated to provide transfer recommendations.
Service to Brooklyn to Increase by 28%
In Brooklyn, trains will run approximately every 12 minutes in both directions during peak hours and every 20 minutes during off-peak hours for an overall 28% increase in daily trains. Every train will make stops at Nostrand Avenue and East New York. Most Brooklyn trains will originate and terminate at Jamaica using the new Platform F, but the LIRR will retain some through service with peak and off-peak trains on the West Hempstead Branch and peak trains on the Babylon and Hempstead Branches. Most customers on the Far Rockaway and Hempstead Branches, whose trains currently primarily serve Brooklyn, will now have direct service to Manhattan all day.
LIRR to Hold Information Sessions on New Timetables
The LIRR will hold four virtual customer information sessions about the proposed new timetables at the following dates and times:
Thursday, June 23 -- 6 to 7 p.m.
Thursday, June 30 -- 6 to 7 p.m.
Thursday, July 7 -- 6 to 7 p.m.
Following these information sessions, a virtual public meeting — where the public will have the chance to offer comments on the timetables — will be held on Wednesday, July 13, from 6 to 8 p.m.
More information about the information sessions, the virtual public hearing, and how to register to participate are posted at https://new.mta.info/grandcentralmadison
FACT SHEET:
62%: Afternoon rush hour service increase from Manhattan to Long Island, from 98 trains to 158 trains.
40%: Morning rush hour train increase into New York City, from 113 trains to 159 trains.
58%: Number of morning rush hour trains coming into Manhattan from Long Island, increasing to 120 from the current 76.
65%: Reverse commute service increase, outbound trains in morning rush and inbound to Manhattan trains in the evening rush rising from current 81 to 134 daily.
76: Number of minutes without an afternoon reverse commute on the Ronkonkoma Branch today. That gap is being eliminated with trains arriving in Manhattan approximately every 30 minutes.
3: Number of additional peak trains out of Penn Station in evening rush hour (rising to 66 from current 63).
Approximately 50% of LIRR riders arriving at Penn Station must find alternate transportation or walk to complete their journey to the East Side.
Lexington Ave Line: Rush hour train frequencies between Jamaica and Manhattan will roughly equate to those during the midday period on the busiest subway line in North America.
12 Minutes: Approximate frequency of service between Brooklyn and Jamaica during peak periods. Off-peak, trains will run approximately every 20 minutes.