There’s great news this week for travellers flying into or out of NYC’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), whether they be daily commuters or flying in domestically or internationally.
A direct MTA rail service connecting JFK with New York’s Grand Central Station in Manhattan has opened, making rail trips from JFK airport in Queens to the centrally-located Midtown East train station a seamless connection for the first time.
The Grand Central Madison terminal opened on Wednesday beneath Grand Central Terminal, a 700,000-square-foot, two-level concourse with four passenger platforms and eight tracks.
The service between Grand Central Madison terminal and the Jamaica station in Queens is operated by the Long Island Railroad (LIRR). The busiest train line in Northern America.
While previously, the only direct rail service option between JFK and Manhattan was from Penn Station (on the Westside), the new Grand Madison Central station offers direct service between JFK and East Midtown, offering commuters and other travellers a more convenient option.
The potential benefits of the new route 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% according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) project webpage.
