The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced the completion of a major upgrade of Grand Central-42 St subway station – finalising works that have been ongoing for the past five years.
The Grand Central-42 St Circulation Improvement Project first started in 2020 and has seen a number of enhancements made at the station to both improve passenger flow and improve accessibility for the station’s 400,000 daily riders.
New features at the station include 14 new staircases, 24 widened existing staircases, 10 new escalators to replace old models and 20% space increase on the mezzanine floor within the public area.
A new street-to-mezzanine elevator has also been installed, one was replaced and three elevators running from the mezzanine to the uptown Lexington lines, downtown Lexington lines, and Flushing line platforms have been replaced.
The project, which was completed on time and 46.5 million USD under budget, was supported by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), including 94.1 million USD to replace 8 escalators and 8.7 million USD to replace one hydraulic elevator at the Grand Central-42 St train station.
MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said:We took many different projects and put them together to a single, aggressively managed package.
We are thrilled to celebrate that all this work was done on time and well ahead of budget.
Elsewhere, new fare control areas have been installed featuring 30 new turnstiles, bringing the total number to 92 – a 52% increase on the amount present when the project first began in 2020. These improvements are expected to improve foot traffic circulation, reduce congestion and strengthen transit accessibility.
In February 2025, a new passageway from Grand Central Terminal to the line platform was opened, with a new staircase extending to the Flushing Line platform built and the existing staircases widened by 25% to connect the Lexington Passageway to the existing passageway, improving customer flow.
Finally; a new Customer Service Centre was opened in September 2025 – with all booths staffed 24/7 by New York City Transit station agents.
MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer, said:This massive five-year project to completely rehabilitate the second busiest train station in America was completed on time and nearly $46.5 million under budget.
We’ve made generational improvements to the region’s crown jewel of public transportation, all while keeping subway service fast and reliable.
