Grand Central Terminal - Layout

Layout

The tracks are numbered according to their location in the terminal building. The upper level tracks are numbered 11 to 42 east to west. Tracks 22 and 31 were removed in the late 1990s to build concourses for Grand Central North, track 12 was removed to expand the platform between tracks 11 and 13, and track 14 is only used for loading a garbage train.

The lower level has 27 tracks, numbered 100 to 126, east to west, though only tracks 102–112, and 114–116 are currently used for passenger service. This makes it easy for passengers to quickly locate where their train is departing from, and this eliminates much of the confusion in attempting to locate specific trains in an immense terminal. Often, local and off-peak trains depart from the lower level while express, super-express, and peak trains depart from the main concourse. Odd numbered tracks are usually on the east side (right side facing north) of the platform; even numbered tracks on the west.

The public timetables for April 3, 2011 show 286 weekday departures: 74 Hudson, 101 Harlem and 111 New Haven Line.

Besides platforms, Grand Central has restaurants, such as the Oyster Bar and various fast food outlets surrounding the Dining Concourse on the level below the Main Concourse, as well as delis, bakeries, newsstands, a gourmet and fresh food market, an annex of the New York Transit Museum, and more than forty retail stores. Grand Central generally contains only private outlets and small franchises. There are no chain outlets in the complex, except for a Starbucks coffee shop, a Rite Aid pharmacy and an Apple Store which opened to the public on December 9, 2011. Other chain stores anticipated to open in the future include a Shake Shack.

A "secret" sub-basement known as M42 lies under the Terminal, containing the AC to DC converters used to supply DC traction current to the Terminal. The exact location of M42 is a closely guarded secret and does not appear on maps, though it has been shown on television, most notably, the History Channel program Cities of the Underworld and also a National Geographic special. The original rotary converters were not removed in the late 20th century when solid state ones took over their job, and they remain as a historical record. During World War II, this facility was closely guarded because its sabotage would have greatly impaired troop movement on the Eastern Seaboard. However, Abwehr were aware of it and sent two spies to sabotage it. The spies were arrested by the FBI before they could strike. It is said that any unauthorized person entering the facility during the war risked being shot on sight: the rotary converters used at the time could have easily been crippled by a bucket of sand.

From 1924 through 1944, the attic of the east wing contained a 7,000-square-foot (650 m2) art school and gallery space called the Grand Central School of Art.