GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL

Description

Essentials about Grand Central Terminal in brief

Rail fans and architecture enthusiasts should definitely have a visit to Grand Central Terminal on their bucket list when traveling to New York City. For the station in the middle of Manhattan at the corner of 42nd Street and Park Avenue is not only the one with the most tracks in the world, but also an architectural gem.

The history of Grand Central Terminal

Two predecessor stations already stood on the present site of the Grand Central Terminal. In 1871, the Grand Central Depot was completed, bringing together the trains of the New York Central and the Hudson River Railroad, the Harlem River Railroad and the New Haven Railroad at a common station. The track hall featured two innovations that were unusual for the American continent up to that time: The platforms were raised to the boarding height of the cars, and a roof vault spanned all the tracks.

Between 1899 and 1900, the main building was extensively remodeled and renamed Grand Central Station. It was raised from three to six stories and given a new facade. Only the track hall remained in its original form. Between 1903 and 1913, the entire building was demolished in sections and replaced by the current multi-story Grand Central Terminal. The architects redesigned it in the Beaux-Arts style. At the same time as the new reception building was being built, the three rail lines that terminated there were electrified.

The Grand Central Terminal complex

The gigantic “railroad cathedral” of Grand Central Terminal has 67 tracks terminating at 44 platforms. The multi-level station is on two levels with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower level. More than 500,000 people now use the station daily, making it the busiest building in New York City. In 1968, plans were announced to demolish the Grand Central Terminal building so that more high-rises could be built in its place. But fortunately, the historic station was preserved by order of the U.S. Supreme Court and subsequently renovated.

Today, only commuter and regional trains run from Grand Central Terminal. In addition, the station is an important transfer connection to the Subway lines. Work is currently underway to provide a connection to the Long Island Railroad through the so-called East Side Access.

The main hall of Grand Central Terminal

Worth seeing is the large main hall with the dark blue-green ceiling painting as a starry sky. For a long time, the artwork lay hidden under a layer of tar and nicotine due to the amount of tobacco smoke in the station. Amateur astronomers will probably notice two errors in the ceiling painting: The sky is depicted upside down and the constellations are slightly off. Some claim that the painting was designed that way because God would see it that way from above, and the constellations are slightly offset because they were copied from a medieval template. Also very famous is the central kiosk in the main hall with its four clocks. Because of its sides made of opal, the clock is estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.

Eating, drinking and shopping in Grand Central Terminal

By the way, Grand Central Terminal is not only an important train station, but also an important shopping and gastronomy center with more than 60 stores and 35 places to eat. Especially people who work in the surrounding office buildings use the Grand Central Market located in the station to do their shopping and go out to eat. From baked goods to soups, fish and meat to fruits and cakes, you can really find everything here.