It is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them. They are situated on two underground levels with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower.
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See also: Pennsylvania StationHistory
Three buildings serving essentially the same function have stood on this site.Grand Central Depot
Grand Central Depot, completed in 1871, was designed to bring the trains of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, the Harlem River Railroad, and the New Haven Railroad together in one large station. The headhouse building containing passenger service areas and railroad offices was an "L" shape with a short leg running east-west on 42nd Street and a long leg running north-south on Vanderbilt Avenue. The train shed, north and east of the headhouse, had two innovations in U.S. practice: the platforms were elevated to the height of the cars and the roof was a balloon shed with a clear span over all of the tracks.Grand Central Station
Between 1899 and 1900, the headhouse was essentially demolished (it was expanded from 3 to 6 stories and an entirely new facade put on it) but the train shed was kept. The tracks that had previous continued south of 42nd Street were removed and the train yard reconfigured in an effort to reduce congestion and turn-around time for trains. The reconstructed building was renamed Grand Central Station.Grand Central Terminal
Between 1903 and 1913, the entire building was torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal which was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by architects Warren & Wetmore and Root & Stem. This work was accompanied by the electrification of the three railroads using the station and the burial of the approach in the Park Avenue tunnel.