structure was expected to run from mid-2019 to mid-2021. Work on the Midday Storage Yard also progressed, and by 2019, tracks were being laid in the storage yard. The portal for Tunnel B/C was completed by early 2021, and the yard was 99 percent complete by that May. Final work and opening By May 2021, finishes were being placed in the station; the third rail, signals, and other right-of-way equipment were being tested. On October 31, 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul rode the first passenger test train through the East Side Access tunnels to Grand Central Terminal. In May 2022, MTA chairman Janno Lieber announced that the project was still scheduled for completion by the end of the year, and Hochul announced that the new station would be named "Grand Central Madison". More extensive tests of operation and safety features (e.g., the positive train control system) were underway and were expected to be completed by the end of 2022. By late 2022, there were concerns that the project's completion could be delayed to March 2023. At the time, the MTA had not yet activated the Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System, which would automatically activate the brakes of oversized trains that attempted to enter the tunnels. In addition, mass-transit ridership declined significantly following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, and the LIRR's passenger numbers had not completely recovered more than two years later. Large amounts of office space in Midtown Manhattan were still vacant, although MTA officials expressed optimism that the completion of East Side Access would attract office workers back to Midtown. The LIRR received operational control of the Grand Central Madison station on December 9, 2022, upon which the station and tracks became subject to Federal Railroad Administration regulations. The Grand Central Madison station remained unopened two weeks later; MTA chairman Janno Lieber attributed the delays to a single ventilation fan that could not exhaust enough air. At the end of December 2022, the MTA postponed the station's opening to January 2023. Early the next month, Lieber indicated that the station's opening could be postponed further to February 2023. Non-revenue shuttle trains began running on January 11, 2023, and the FRA said on January 19 that the LIRR had finished installing ACSES equipment in the tunnels. On the evening of January 23, 2023, it was announced that the station would open on January 25; the station opened