Editing Grand Central Terminal (section)

=== Passenger improvements ===
[[File:Whispering Gallery.jpg|thumb|alt=A vaulted ceiling by the terminal's ramps|Incline between concourses, showing the [[whispering gallery]] outside the Oyster Bar]]
At the time of its completion, Grand Central Terminal offered several innovations in transit-hub design. One was the use of ramps, rather than staircases, to conduct passengers and luggage through the facility. Two ramps connected the lower-level suburban concourse to the main concourse; several more led from the main concourse to entrances on 42nd Street. These ramps allowed all travelers to easily move between Grand Central's two underground levels.<ref name="Langmead p. 174" /><ref name="nyt19120512" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/02/02/archives/first-great-stairless-railway-terminal-in-history-unique.html|title=First Great Stairless Railway Terminal in History – Unique Architectural Feature by Which Passengers Reach Trains by Easy Grades|date=February 2, 1913|newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 7, 2018|archive-date=December 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209132827/https://www.nytimes.com/1913/02/02/archives/first-great-stairless-railway-terminal-in-history-unique.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There were also 15 passenger elevators and six freight-and-passenger elevators scattered around the station.<ref name="nyt19120512" /> The separation of commuter and intercity trains, as well as incoming and outgoing trains, ensured that most passengers on a given ramp would be traveling in the same direction.<ref>{{harvnb|ps=.|New York Central|1912|p=18}}</ref> At its opening in 1913, the terminal was theoretically able to accommodate 100 million passengers a year.<ref name="nyt19130202-1" />

The Park Avenue Viaduct, which wrapped around the terminal, allowed Park Avenue traffic to bypass the building without being diverted onto nearby streets,<ref name="nyt19280902" /> and reconnected the only north–south avenue in midtown Manhattan that had an interruption in it.<ref name="RN p. 103" /> The station building was also designed to accommodate the re-connection of both segments of 43rd Street by going through the concourse, if the City of New York had demanded it.<ref name="Roberts2013" /><ref name="Roberts" />

Designers of the new terminal tried to make it as comfortable as possible. Amenities included an oak-floored waiting room for women, attended to by maids; a shoeshine room, also for women; a room with telephones; a beauty salon with gender-separated portions; a dressing room, with maids available for a fee; and a men's barbershop, containing a public area with barbers from many cultures, as well as a rentable private space.<ref name="Roberts2013" /><ref name="Roberts" /><ref name="nyt19130202-2" /> Grand Central was designed with two concourses, one on each level. The "outbound" concourse could handle 15,000 people; the "inbound" concourse, 8,000. A waiting room adjoining each concourse could fit another 5,000.<ref name="nyt19100626" /> Brochures advertised the new Grand Central Terminal as a tourist-friendly space where "[t]imid travelers may ask questions with no fear of being rebuffed by hurrying trainmen, or imposed upon by hotel runners, chauffeurs or others in blue uniforms"; a safe and welcoming place for people of all cultures, where "special accommodations are to be provided for immigrants and gangs of laborers"; and a general tourist attraction "where one delights to loiter, admiring its beauty and symmetrical lines—a poem in stone".<ref name="Roberts2013" /><ref name="Roberts" /> The waiting room by the Main Concourse, now Vanderbilt Hall, also had an advantage over many, including Penn Station's: Grand Central's waiting room was a tranquil place to wait, with all ticket booths, information desks, baggage areas, and meeting areas instead removed to the Main Concourse.<ref>{{cite news|title=New Grand Central Terminal Opens its Doors|newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|pages=69–74|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/02/issue.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=LedeAsset&region=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article|date=February 2, 1913|access-date=December 18, 2018|archive-date=January 24, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124055234/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/02/issue.html?action=click&contentCollection=Archives&module=LedeAsset&region=ArchiveBody&pgtype=article|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Grand Central Terminal - Sectional View 1939.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A cross-cut drawing of Grand Central, showing its rooms, passages, tunnels, and tracks|Cutaway drawing from 1939, illustrating the use of ramps, express and suburban tracks, and the viaduct]]
Every train at Grand Central Terminal departs one minute later than its posted departure time. The extra minute is intended to encourage passengers rushing to catch trains at the last minute to slow down.<ref name=nyt-2009-10-17>{{Cite news|last=Grynbaum|first=Michael M.|date=2009-10-17|title=The Secret New York Minute: Trains Late by Design|language=en-US|work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/nyregion/17minute.html|access-date=2023-01-30|archive-date=January 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130032133/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/nyregion/17minute.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

All of the terminal's light fixtures are bare light bulbs. At the time of the terminal's construction, electricity was still a relatively new invention, and the inclusion of electric light bulbs showcased this innovation.<ref name="Carlson 2015" /><ref name="RN p. 96" /> In 2009, the [[incandescent light bulb]]s were replaced with energy- and money-saving [[fluorescent lamp]] fixtures.<ref name="Sulzberger 2009" />

{{anchor|Porters}}When Grand Central Terminal opened, it hired two types of porters, marked with different-colored caps, to assist passengers.<ref name="RN pp. 131-132" /> Porters with red caps served as [[bellhop]]s, rolling luggage around Grand Central Terminal, and were rarely paid tips.<ref name="RN pp. 131-132" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/06/01/archives/fifty-years-he-watched-growth-of-grand-central-george-schuman-now.html|title=Fifty Years He Watch Growth of Grand Central – George Schuman, Now Retiring, Began Work at the Terminal When It Was Called "the Commodore's Barn" and Had Only 13 Tracks|date=May 1, 1924|website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=January 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106010503/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/06/01/archives/fifty-years-he-watched-growth-of-grand-central-george-schuman-now.html|url-status=live}}</ref> There were more than 500 red-capped porters at one point.<ref name="RN pp. 131-132" /> Porters with green caps, a position introduced in 1922,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/06/25/archives/green-caps-to-help-forgetful-travelers-new-functionaries-at-grand.html|title='Green Caps' to Help Forgetful Travellers – New Functionaries at Grand Central to Perform Offices of aPrivate Secretary.|date=June 25, 1922|website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=January 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106055148/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/06/25/archives/green-caps-to-help-forgetful-travelers-new-functionaries-at-grand.html|url-status=live}}</ref> provided information services, sending out or receiving telegrams or phone messages for a fee.<ref name="RN pp. 131-132" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/08/19/archives/day-in-a-green-caps-life-is-filled-with-odd-jobs.html|title=Day in a Green Cap's Life Is Filled With Odd Jobs|date=August 19, 1923|website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=January 5, 2019|archive-date=January 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106055207/https://www.nytimes.com/1923/08/19/archives/day-in-a-green-caps-life-is-filled-with-odd-jobs.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%25206%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Tribune%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Tribune%25201922%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Tribune%25201922%2520Jul%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200023.pdf|title=New Grand Central Green Caps Banish All Trouble for a Dime|date=July 2, 1922|work=New York Tribune|access-date=January 5, 2019|page=4|via=Fultonhistory.com|archive-date=January 24, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124055229/https://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%206/New%20York%20NY%20Tribune/New%20York%20NY%20Tribune%201922%20Jul%20Grayscale/New%20York%20NY%20Tribune%201922%20Jul%20Grayscale%20-%200023.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> They later started dropping off and picking up packages as well. There were only twelve green-capped porters, as well as two messengers who brought messages to an exchange on the west side of the terminal.<ref name="RN pp. 131-132" />