Mark your calendars: MTA sets opening date for East Side Access

The MTA seems to have decided on an opening date for East Side Access, according to an update on the project in the materials for this month's MTA Board Capital Program Oversight Committee meeting.

Save the date: the MTA is now projecting a Revenue Service Date of December 13, 2022 (a Tuesday) for the $11 billion effort to dig a new East Midtown Terminal for the LIRR underneath NY-Grand Central.

Construction crews prepare the floor for terrazzo installation in the future LIRR portion of NY-Grand Central
(Photo: MTA Construction & Development)

This is the first time we have a specific opening date for a project that for quite a long time seemed perpetually "7 years away".  Around early 2018, the MTA rebaselined the project's schedule and budget and has generally been sticking to a 2022 completion date.  Before the pandemic, the agency was trying to deliver the project a little earlier (over the summer of 2022), but that has since slid back to the tail end of the year.

The project is now finally entering the home stretch—it reached a major milestone earlier this fall when the first test trains started operating directly into the new terminal. The MTA reports that all track is in place and the traction power substations have been energized.  The report also indicates the project team is still encountering some challenges, but the MTA's Independent Engineering Consultant believes that the December 13 Revenue Service Date is still achievable.  The agency will need to start wrapping up major construction very shortly so the LIRR can begin training its operating crews on the new station, tunnels, and yard, but the MTA says that most of this is on track—currently the schedule appears to have a three-month period at the end of the project for the LIRR to take over the facilities for training and familiarization purposes.