Grand Central Terminal

그랜드 센트럴 터미널

A Beaux-Arts rail terminal with 44 platforms, the most of any station in the world, crowned by a Tiffany-glass clock and a statue of Mercury.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: New York City, USA
Built: 1913
Type: Infrastructure

Quick answers

Where is Grand Central Terminal?

Grand Central Terminal is in New York City, USA, United States.

When was Grand Central Terminal built?

Grand Central Terminal was built in 1913.

Grand Central Terminal, often called Grand Central Station, is a huge train station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1913, and its grand Beaux-Arts design is full of works of art. It is a National Historic Landmark and one of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, not counting train and subway passengers.

The terminal covers 48 acres and has 44 platforms, more than any other railway station in the world. All platforms are underground and serve 30 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. About 67 million passengers use it each year, and in the morning rush hour a train arrives every 58 seconds. It is the third-busiest train station in North America. Its Main Concourse, with a four-sided brass clock on the information booth, is a famous meeting place and often appears in films.

A station on two levels

The station was designed with two passenger levels: an upper level for long-distance trains and a lower one for commuter trains. This idea, by the railroad's vice president William J. Wilgus, kept the two kinds of passengers apart so people moved smoothly. Long-distance trains left from Grand Central from 1871 until Amtrak moved them to Penn Station in 1991. The luxury 20th Century Limited ran from here to Chicago from 1902 to 1967.

Saved from the wrecking ball

In the 1960s the railroad that owned the terminal, then the Penn Central, wanted to tear it down and build a skyscraper. New York City had made the terminal a landmark in 1967 and refused. The fight went to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in favour of the city. Grand Central was named a National Historic Landmark in 1976, and a big restoration took place in 1998.

More than a station

The building also holds shops, restaurants, a food hall, a library, an event hall, a tennis club and a control centre for the railroad. Below the Metro-North tracks, a new station called Grand Central Madison opened in 2023 for Long Island Rail Road trains. It adds about 16 acres of underground space.

Fun facts

The ceiling of its main concourse is painted with constellations.
It has 44 platforms, more than any other railway station in the world.
In the morning rush hour a train arrives every 58 seconds.
Plans to tear it down for a skyscraper went all the way to the US Supreme Court.
It also has a tennis club inside the building.