MTA Long Island Rail Road issued a Notice to Proceed to the Parsons Transportation Group on July 6 for detailed design of the East Side Access which is intended to bring LIRR trains into New York’s Grand Central Terminal by 2009. LIRR trains would reach GCT via a branch from Sunnyside Yard in Queens using the partially completed 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River.
Parsons has been awarded a $103m contract to act as Systems Engineering Consultant for the $3·2bn project. This covers system-wide planning and final design for track, power supplies, signalling, and communications, plus design of the LIRR station at GCT.
