NEW YORK—Two boring machines will start drilling four tunnels under Sunnyside Yard in Queens to connect the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, says the MTA. The tunnels are expected to be completed in October, 2012.
The boring machines have been named Tess and Molina by sixth graders Mohammad Malik, Michael Morales, and Angel Peralta of the Oliver Wendell Holmes School, in Long Island City.
The effort is part of the project called East Side Access, which is set to finish in 2016. By then, LIRR trains will be able to make direct stops at Grand Central. Right now, Queens and Long Island commuters have to get off at Pennsylvania Station and connect to subway lines to reach destinations on the East Side of Manhattan. The MTA estimates that the East Side Access will reduce as much as 40 minutes of travel time for about 160,000 commuters.
“One day in the not too distant future, a conductor will say eight magic words that have never been spoken on Long Island: ‘This is the train to Grand Central Terminal,’” said President of the Long Island Rail Road, Helena E. Williams, according to an official press release.
President of MTA Capital Construction, Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, commented that the East Side Access is the “largest transportation construction project” in the country.
The boring machines have been named Tess and Molina by sixth graders Mohammad Malik, Michael Morales, and Angel Peralta of the Oliver Wendell Holmes School, in Long Island City.
The effort is part of the project called East Side Access, which is set to finish in 2016. By then, LIRR trains will be able to make direct stops at Grand Central. Right now, Queens and Long Island commuters have to get off at Pennsylvania Station and connect to subway lines to reach destinations on the East Side of Manhattan. The MTA estimates that the East Side Access will reduce as much as 40 minutes of travel time for about 160,000 commuters.
“One day in the not too distant future, a conductor will say eight magic words that have never been spoken on Long Island: ‘This is the train to Grand Central Terminal,’” said President of the Long Island Rail Road, Helena E. Williams, according to an official press release.
President of MTA Capital Construction, Dr. Michael Horodniceanu, commented that the East Side Access is the “largest transportation construction project” in the country.