How to Find the LIRR at Grand Central Madison Concourse, NYC
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A new transit station called Grand Central Madison Concourse has opened below Grand Central Terminal in Midtown, New York City extending the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). The train offers much-needed LIRR service between Jamaica Station in Queens to Grand Central. It just opened a few days ago so I decided to visit the station and check it out.
This connection is important for both Connecticut residents and Long Island commuters who wish to move between Manhattan and Long Island. It makes it much easier to travel from Connecticut to JFK Airport for example!
The new LIRR Grand Central Madison concourse is a welcome addition to New York City’s transportation infrastructure. The concourse, located in the heart of Manhattan, provides direct access to the Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad for commuters.
With the opening of the concourse, the LIRR and Metro North have become much more convenient for commuters traveling between the boroughs of New York City and Long Island. The concourse is designed to accommodate up to 14,000 passengers per hour and has expanded the capacity of Grand Central Station by 25%!
The concourse also features a modern, spacious waiting area, with plenty of seating, as well as a variety of retail outlets and restaurants. The new concourse is a great addition to the city, making it easier for travelers to journey between the east side of Midtown Manhattan and Long Island.
Grand Central Madison Entrances
You can enter the new Grand Central Madison concourse from the street or get to it from within Grand Central Station on Park Avenue.
47th St and Madison Avenue
The street entrance is found at 383 Madison Avenue on the south east corner of East 47th street. Inside there are escalators, but you can take the elevator outside the main entrance on 47th street if you need to.
Grand Central Station Park Avenue
You can also reach the Grand Central Madison underground concourse from within Grand Central Station. In the central concourse, look for the stairs going down to the Dining Concourse.
If you’re transferring from the Metro North New Haven Line, you don’t need to go all the way up! You can simply make your way down the long ramp to the Dining Concourse.
You’ll see signs on the columns in the Dining Concourse directing you to the escalators. They are located towards the center of the entire space, near Luke’s Lobster Rolls.
Once you reach the middle of the Dining Concourse, you go down a set of escalators towards the Long Island Rail Road.
This is the same escalator, just another sign confirming that you are heading to the Madison Concourse!
Down we go. Bye Grand Central Terminal!
Grand Central Madison LIRR Concourse
At the bottom of the escalator, you will see a set of turquoise swing doors and a large “Long Island Rail Road” sign.
Then, you’ll need to go down a long tunnel to find the ticketing, police, and train tracks.
The signs on the wall will tell you when the next train is to Jamaica and what track to wait on. I was there mid-day and the trains were running every 30 minutes or so.
There’s a set of ticketing booths, restrooms, and police located in the central area.
When you’re ready to board, you have to go down another set of escalators. All in all, the Madison Concourse is actually 10 stories below ground!
I’m not going to lie, this escalator is extremely long and made me nauseous going down! Don’t look up or down while you ride it. I am pretty surprised it was designed this way as it seems like a huge safety risk. There are elevators located near the ticketing area if you prefer to go down that way.
Tracks 203, 204, 303, and 304 are all easily located. Double check that you’re going to the right track as it’s easy to confuse 203 and 302 in your memory as the numbers are so similar.
Everything is shiny and brand new!
To reach the tracks, you have to go down or up another escalator!
Finally, you’ll arrive at the tracks!
Grand Central Madison Map
Here is a Grand Central Madison Map for you to save if you need one!
Enjoy your trip through the brand new Grand Central Madison concourse!
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Entering the Madison Ave. / East 47th St. pedestrian entrance, how does that connect to the great hall of GCT? Which direction would I walk? What signs, landmarks should I look for? Thank you! I ask because your descriptive writing is extremely helpful and refreshing!
Hi! Thank you! Well, you have to walk down the SUPER long gray hallway underground, turn the corner, and then take the escalator up to the food court, then go upstairs to the main hall. I think it will be fairly obvious which way to go because the “end” is at 47th street. There should also be signs directing you to GCT.
Thanks for the compliment! :)
Thank you for acknowledging the sheer length of those escalators down to the LIRR concourse. They make me nauseous and anxious! I’m always afraid I’ll pass out. I try to close my eyes going down or up, lol.
I haven’t found the elevator — I usually don’t enter from 47th street. If you can have any pictures of it that would be superb!
It’s just past the Ticketing counter area when you’re coming from Grand Central. I’ll try to snap a photo next time I pass through!
So, is the 47th street entrance a shorter way to the ticketing booths and tracks? I found entering via the main entrance of Grand Central at 42nd street not the most pleasant experience while carrying a lot of luggage..
(I hadn’t read this article at the time).
Yes it is!
The same thing happened to me. Even trying to get from Metro-North to the Long Island RR, when I was first leaving for my trip was a terrible experience. I was alone, had lots of luggage, struggling trying to get to JFK. I never had problems traveling to Grand Central then to different subways before, so it bothered me, even after my trip was over. I wanted to get to the bottom of this and was relieved discovering this area was very new. I wasn’t losing my mind after all.
Hi CT This is a FABULOUS walk-through. I wish I’d read it before having a horrible time last week trying to catch the LIRR to Queens. I arrived at GCT half an hour before the departure time for my train (only 1 per hour to my station), and I STILL missed it. Between the ridiculous escalators (about 3 minutes each; I had a heavy shopping cart so couldn’t walk), the long distances on the various levels, and my getting lost several times, I was starting to feel that the platform might as well have been located in Wisconsin. Penn Station seemed MUCH closer.
So I’ll allow for all this insanity the next time I try. Thanks to your article, the getting lost part won’t be a problem anymore.
Take care,
-Tim in Forest Hills
Hi Tim! I agree, the area was poorly designed, especially once you go down the VERY long escalator which seems like a huge safety hazard if you ask me. If 1 careless person doesn’t pay attention to their suitcase, it could fall down and kill someone on the lower end of the escalator.
In addition, many of the tracks are labeled very similarly: 203, 302, 303, etc. I actually mixed up these numbers once and ended up waiting on the wrong track, missing my train entirely! I wish the tracks had normal numbers like 12, 13, 14, etc. So yes, there are many design flaws. It’s not your fault at all! :)
Victoria
When you are riding LIRR from grand central terminal to Jamaica, is the uptown side of the platform back or of the train?
Beautiful great addition to my world
Especially if congestion pricing goes into effect.
If you are looking at the Grand Central Terminal Map of the Lower Level Dining Concourse which way do you go for the Grand Central Madison area? Towards the MTA police Lost & Found? https://www.grandcentralterminal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/DirectoryMap.pdf
No, the entrance is before the lost and found. In the lower dining concourse, the entrance is actually somewhat in the center, not on the outer walls.
Can you buy tickets online? Can you buy a MetroCard to help with the before you get to the bottle neck at the Airtrain ticket area?
You can buy tickets through the TrainTime app on your phone. Just select Grand Central and Jamaica as the origin/destinations.
Yes, you need a yellow MetroCard to use the Airtrain.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. This is extremely helpful!
You’re welcome!