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Grand Central Station

Image of Stuart JordanSTUART JORDAN tracks the history of this large station in New York.

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Grand Central Station (or Grand Central Terminal as it is officially known) is a railway station located at the intersection of 42nd Street and Park Avenue on the island of Manhattan. The current station was built in 1913 by the New York Central Railroad on the location of two previous stations. Grand Central is the third busiest station in North America and has 44 below ground platforms, split over two levels.

Grand Central Station.

The original Grand Central Depot in the late 1800s.

The first station built on the site was a compromise between three companies – Hudson River Railroad, New York and Harlem Railroad, and the New York and New Haven Railroad. This first station was called Grand Central Depot and was completed in 1871. Improvements were made to the station in 1874 for the safety of pedestrians, with trains travelling through the Park Avenue Tunnel and entering the station from underground. In 1885 an annex with more platforms was added.

Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Depot in 1902.

By the end of the 19th Century the station had reached its capacity. Due to fatal accidents, all steam trains were banned from Manhattan in 1908. New York Central put together an improvement plan which involved electrifying the tracks and having all trains entering the station by tunnel. The original building was torn down and the plans for the current building were drawn up. The architectural firm Reed and Stem was selected to oversee the whole project, with Warren and Wetmore brought in to design the exterior in the Beaux-Arts style.

Grand Central Station.

A plan of the lower level of platforms, showing the length of the tunnels and size covered by the platforms.The vertical lines are streets running between Madison Avenue and Lexington Avenue.

Construction began on 19th June 1903. The existing station was demolished and rebuilt in three sections, one at a time, to minimise disruption to services. Nearly two and a half million cubic metres was excavated to accommodate the ten floors of the station. The original station building was demolished in 1910 and the new terminal was officially opened on 2nd February 1913. The upper level of platforms was built for intercity trains, with the lower level serving commuter services.

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Grand Central Station.

The main concourse in the 1980s, with the Kodak Colorama in the background.

The main concourse is on the same level as the upper platforms. The 3300 square metre hall later contained the famous Kodak Colorama display. The information booth in the centre of the concourse contains a spiral staircase, connecting it with a similar booth on the lower level.

The area above the underground tracks was developed into a business area, used in part to fund the building of the station. The increase in electric services into the station brought about development of the suburbs around New York, as it was now much easier for commuters to reach Midtown Manhattan. The station reached its zenith in 1947, with 65 million passengers travelling through the station in that year. The decline came quickly though, with the ascension of the passenger jet and the building of the Interstate network. Almost as a literal overshadowing, the 59 floor Pan-Am building was built just to the north of the station.

Grand Central Station.

The Pan-Am building (now MetLife) towering over Grand Central.

Intercity services ceased in 1991 with Amtrak running their last train from the station in April of that year, with services to and from New York transferring to Penn Station. Despite this loss of custom, the station was renovated between 1988 and 1998 at a cost of $113.8 million. Grand Central currently serves commuter services into upstate New York and Connecticut, with a link to several New York City Subway lines in the adjacent subway station.

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