Grand Central Madison – one of the largest, most complex underground passenger rail megaprojects in recent U.S. history – has been honored as the “World’s Most Beautiful Passenger Station” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 2024 Prix Versailles Interior Award.
Opened in January 2023, Grand Central Madison expands the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) capacity into Manhattan’s East Side for the first time, increasing train capacity, improving commute times for 160,000 riders by as much as 40 minutes each day, easing congestion at Penn Station and enhancing efficiency along the Northeast Corridor.
STV and its joint venture partners provided tunnel engineering, environmental engineering and final design services for the terminal and 350,000-square-foot concourse carved 140 feet below Madison Avenue. Formerly East Side Access, Grand Central Madison can accommodate 24 trains per hour and contributes to LIRR’s 40% increase in service.
UNESCO’s Prix Versailles awards celebrate the architectural achievements of projects that are innovative, creative, reflect a local heritage and are environmentally efficient. Last year, Newark Liberty International Airport’s new Terminal A earned the 2023 UNESCO Prix Versailles Special Prize for an Exterior. On behalf of the Tutor Perini/Parsons design-build consortium, and in association with Grimshaw, STV served as the architect- and engineer-of-record for the terminal.
