‘Hot mess’: NYC commuters rage over $11B Grand Central rush-hour hell rides

[Kamaji]

‘Hot mess’: NYC commuters rage over $11B Grand Central rush-hour hell rides

By Nolan Hicks, Kevin Sheehan and Bruce Golding
March 2, 2023

The MTA’s new, $11 billion LIRR train hall under Grand Central Terminal has turned into a gleaming shrine to commuter mayhem, with furious riders left fuming at Jamaica Station on Day 4 — as largely empty trains rolled into Manhattan.

“I’m running from Track 12 to Track 3, then they change it to Track 4? That’s five flights of stairs!” a commuter who gave her name as Samantha fumed Thursday.

The 38-year-old teacher, who was trying to get from New Hyde Park to Brooklyn, said she’d seen fellow riders running and falling as they tried to catch trains in Jamaica.

“They need to add more trains to Brooklyn or go back to the way it was before,” she said. “I’ve been late the last four days because of this.”

The maddening situation is the result of controversial changes to the Long Island Rail Road’s schedule that went into effect Monday to accommodate full-time LIRR service to Grand Central.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/nyc-commuter-rage-grows-over-lirr-schedule-overhaul/

[Kamaji]

Thankfully, for me, the addition of a train to Grand Central has gone very smoothly for me, and gives me an extra half-hour of time in the morning before I have to catch the train.  Since Grand Central is also near where I work, I no longer have to pay for a separate subway ride to get to work (the way I used to when LIRR only went to Penn Station).

Hopefully they'll get the worst of the kinks ironed out sooner rather than later.