First train ran from Jamaica to Grand Central Madison yesterday. I had not realized this was considered the first expansion of LIRR service since 1910.
Story and some pictures here:
https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/commuterregional/grand-central-madison-open-for-business/
Thanks to this forum and its links, I was able to alert a friend of mine who lives near both NYP & GCT, when the first train would arrive from Queens. So he walked to GCT and took a nice video of that "historic" train's arrival and sent it to me. Consequently, although I wasn't there in the physical sense, thanks to today's technology, I was able to enjoy the event almost as if I were. And you know what? It was pretty prosaic-looking. The ten or twelve people on the platform to welcome the innagural train found an undecorated but shiny & new-looking LIRR train coming quietly to a stop.
The real glory of Grand Central Madison seems to be its faithfulness to the over-all "culture" and look of old GCT, as well as its stunning and beautiful new touches, like the 2 minute escalator ride down to the new platforms.
So now there's another reason, besides the Oyster Bar, to visit GCT and look around on the lower levels.
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