NYC train station named world's most beautiful for interior design

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) – Grand Central Madison, the Long Island Rail Road terminal on Manhattan's east side, has been named the world’s most beautiful passenger station for interior architecture and design.

Grand Central Madison was awarded UNESCO’s 2024 Prix Versailles Interior Award for the World’s Most Beautiful Passenger Station category on Monday, the MTA announced.

The global architecture and design award is given to recently opened or renovated metro stations.

Other stations on the 2024 World’s Most Beautiful Passenger Stations list included Schafbergbahn Station in St. Wolfgang, Austria; Bell Station in Melbourne, Australia; Beijing Station in Beijing, China; Toulouse Matabiau Station in Toulouse, France; and Chiaia Metro Station in Naples, Italy.

From the list, judges awarded three world titles: Prix Versailles, Interior, and Exterior.

Grand Central Madison opened in January 2023. The 700,000-square-foot terminal was one of the largest transportation infrastructure projects in the United States in recent years, according to the MTA.

"New Yorkers have known since the day it opened that Grand Central Madison is a world-class terminal," MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement. "The project team seamlessly blended innovative engineering and architectural grandeur to create a worthy addition to Grand Central – New York’s temple of mass transit."