Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a
suburban
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
service run by the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
(MTA), a
public authority
A public-benefit nonprofit corporation is a type of Nonprofit organization, nonprofit corporation chartered by a state governments of the United States, state government, and organized primarily or exclusively for Institution, social, educational ...
of the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and under contract with the
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...
. Metro-North runs service between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and its northern suburbs in New York and
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, including
Port Jervis
Port Jervis is a city located at the confluence of the Neversink and Delaware rivers in western Orange County, New York, United States, north of the Delaware Water Gap. Its population was 8,775 at the 2020 census. The communities of Deerpark, ...
,
Spring Valley,
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
,
Yonkers
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
,
New Rochelle
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
,
Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
,
White Plains,
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
Wassaic in New York and
Stamford,
New Canaan
New Canaan () is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,622 according to the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
About an hour from Manhattan by train, the town is considered part of G ...
,
Danbury
Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut.
Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...
,
Bridgeport
Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...
,
Waterbury
Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...
, and
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
in Connecticut. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
Metro-North is the descendant of commuter rail services dating back as early as 1832. By 1969, they had all been acquired by
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...
. MTA acquired all three lines by 1972, but Penn Central continued to operate them under contract. Service was transferred to
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
in 1976, when it absorbed most of Penn Central's railroad functions after Penn Central's bankruptcy. The system took its current form in 1983, when MTA took over Conrail's commuter operations in the northern portion of the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...
and merged them into Metro-North.
There are 124 stations
on Metro-North Railroad's five active lines, which operate on more than of track,
with the passenger railroad system totaling of
route
Route or routes may refer to:
* Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver
* route (command), a program used to configure the routing table
* Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland
* ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film
* Ro ...
. It is the
third busiest commuter railroad in North America in terms of annual ridership, behind the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
and
NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
.
, Metro-North's budgetary burden for expenditures was $1.3 billion, which it supports through the collection of taxes and fees.
The MTA has jurisdiction, through Metro-North, over railroad lines on the western and eastern portions of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
in New York. Service on the western side of the Hudson is operated by NJ Transit under contract with the MTA.
Lines
East of the Hudson River
Three lines provide passenger service on the east side of the Hudson River to
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
: the
Hudson
Hudson may refer to:
People
* Hudson (given name)
* Hudson (surname)
* Henry Hudson, English explorer
* Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back
* Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
,
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, and
New Haven Line
The Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line is a commuter rail line running from New Haven, Connecticut to New York City. It joins the Harlem Line at Mount Vernon, New York and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven ...
s. The
Beacon Line
The Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. From west to east, the lines that connect are Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven ...
is a freight line owned by Metro-North but is not in service.
The Hudson and Harlem Lines terminate in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
and
Wassaic, New York, respectively.
The New Haven Line is operated through a partnership between Metro-North and the State of Connecticut. The
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...
(CTDOT) owns the tracks and stations within Connecticut, and finances and performs capital improvements. MTA owns the tracks and stations and handles capital improvements within New York State. MTA performs routine maintenance and provides police services for the entire line, its branches and stations. New cars and locomotives are typically purchased in a joint agreement between MTA and CTDOT, with the agencies paying for 33.3% and 66.7% of costs respectively. CTDOT pays more because most of the line is in Connecticut. The New Haven Line has three branches in Connecticut: the
New Canaan Branch
The New Canaan Branch is an 8.2-mile (13 km) long branch line of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line that begins from a junction east of downtown Stamford, Connecticut, north to New Canaan. It opened in 1868 as the New Canaan Railroad.
...
,
Danbury Branch
The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line from downtown Norwalk, Connecticut north to Danbury, mostly single-tracked. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger ...
and
Waterbury Branch
The Waterbury Branch is a branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, running north from a junction in the Devon section of Milford to Waterbury, Connecticut. Originally built as the Naugatuck Railroad, it once continued north to Winste ...
. At New Haven, CTDOT runs two connecting services, the
Shore Line East
Shore Line East (SLE) is a commuter rail service which operates along the Northeast Corridor through southern Connecticut, United States. The rail service is a fully owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and i ...
connecting service continues east to
New London
New London may refer to:
Places United States
*New London, Alabama
*New London, Connecticut
*New London, Indiana
*New London, Iowa
*New London, Maryland
*New London, Minnesota
*New London, Missouri
*New London, New Hampshire, a New England town
** ...
, and the
Hartford Line
The Hartford Line is a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, using the Amtrak-owned New Haven–Springfield Line. The project is a joint venture between the states of Connecticut and Massachusett ...
service continues north to
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, and
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
operates
inter-city rail
Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains.
There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...
service along the New Haven and Hudson Lines. The New Haven Line is part of Amtrak's
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
. Amtrak's ''
Northeast Regional
The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busies ...
'' runs from
New Rochelle
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
to New Haven, while Stamford and New Haven are also served by the high-speed ''
Acela Express
The ''Acela'' ( ; originally the ''Acela Express'' until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, includ ...
.'' At New Haven, the New Haven Line connects to the Amtrak
New Haven–Springfield Line
The New Haven–Springfield Line is a railroad line owned by Amtrak from New Haven, Connecticut, north to Springfield, Massachusetts. As a branch of the Northeast Corridor just north of New Haven State Street station, it is served by approximately ...
. The Hudson Line is part of the
Empire Corridor
The Empire Corridor is a passenger rail corridor in New York State running between Penn Station in New York City and . Major cities on the route include Poughkeepsie, Albany, Schenectady, Amsterdam, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo ...
, and the Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, and Poughkeepsie stations are all served by Amtrak as well as Metro-North.
Freight train
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...
s operate over Metro-North lines, though the company itself does not operate freight services. The Hudson Line connects with the
Oak Point Link
The Oak Point Link, also known as the South Bronx–Oak Point Link, is a long railroad line in the Bronx, New York City, United States, along the east bank of the Harlem River. It connects the Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line (on the Spuyten ...
and is the main route for freight to and from the Bronx and Long Island. Freight railroads
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
,
CP Rail
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
,
P&W, and
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad ( ) is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and ...
have
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
on sections of the system. ''See''
Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island
From the start of railroading in America through the first half of the 20th century, New York City and Long Island were major areas for rail freight transportation. However, their relative isolation from the mainland United States has always pos ...
.
West of the Hudson
Metro-North provides service west of the Hudson River on trains from
Hoboken Terminal
Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...
, New Jersey, jointly run with NJ Transit under contract. There are two branches: the
Port Jervis Line
The Port Jervis Line is a predominantly single-track commuter rail line running between Suffern and Port Jervis, in the U.S. state of New York. At Suffern, the line continues south into New Jersey as NJ Transit's Main Line. The line is operated ...
and the
Pascack Valley Line
The Pascack Valley Line is a commuter rail line operated by the Hoboken Division of New Jersey Transit, in the United States. The line runs north from Hoboken Terminal, through Hudson County and Bergen County in New Jersey, and into Rockland Co ...
. The Port Jervis Line is accessed from two NJ Transit lines, the
Main Line
Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to:
Transportation
Railway
* Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system
* Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...
and the
Bergen County Line
The Bergen County Line is a commuter rail line and service owned and operated by New Jersey Transit in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The line loops off the Main Line between the Meadowlands and Glen Rock, with trains continuing in either direc ...
.
The Port Jervis Line terminates in Port Jervis, New York, and the Pascack Valley line in Spring Valley, New York, in Orange and Rockland Counties, respectively. Trackage on the Port Jervis Line north of the Suffern Yard is leased from the
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
by the MTA, but NJ Transit owns all of the Pascack Valley Line, including the portion in
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of t ...
.
Most stops for the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines are in New Jersey, so NJ Transit provides most of the
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
and all the staff; Metro-North supplies some equipment. Metro-North equipment has been used on other NJ Transit lines on the Hoboken division.
All stations west of the Hudson River in New York are owned and operated by Metro-North, except , which is owned and operated by NJ Transit.
History
Predecessors
Most of the trackage east of the Hudson River and in New York State was under the control of the
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(NYC). The NYC initially operated three commuter lines, two of which ran into
Grand Central Depot
Grand Central Terminal is a major commuter rail terminal in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, serving the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines. It is the most recent of three functionally similar buildings on the same ...
(now
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
). Metro-North's Harlem Line was initially a combination of trackage from the
New York and Harlem Railroad
The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...
and the
Boston and Albany Railroad
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...
, running from Manhattan to
Chatham, New York
Chatham is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census.
The town has a village also called Chatham on its southern town line. The town is at the northern border of ...
in
Columbia County. At Chatham, passengers could transfer to long-distance trains on the Boston and Albany to
Albany,
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
On April 1, 1873, the New York and Harlem Railroad was leased by
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...
, who added the railroad to his
complex empire of railroads, which were run by the NYC. Grand Central Depot, built in 1871, served as the southern terminus of NYC's Harlem and Hudson Divisions; it would be replaced by
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
in 1900, and by Grand Central Terminal in 1913. The Boston and Albany came under the ownership of NYC in 1914.
NYC's four-track
Water Level Route
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
paralleled the Hudson River, Erie Canal, and Great Lakes on a route from New York to Chicago via Albany. It was fast and popular due to the lack of any significant grades. The section between Grand Central and
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fro ...
, the northernmost station in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
, became known as the NYC's Hudson Division, with frequent commuter service in and out of Manhattan. Stations to the north of Peekskill, such as Poughkeepsie, were considered to be long-distance services. The other major commuter line was the
Putnam Division
The New York and Putnam Railroad, nicknamed the Old Put, was a railroad line that operated between the Bronx and Brewster in New York State. It was in close proximity to the Hudson River Railroad and New York and Harlem Railroad. All three cam ...
running from
155th Street in
upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...
(later from
Sedgwick Avenue
Sedgwick Avenue is a major street in the Bronx, New York City. It runs roughly parallel to Jerome Avenue, the Major Deegan Expressway, and University Avenue. Sedgwick Avenue is one of the longest streets in the western part of the Bronx, ru ...
in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
) to
Brewster, New York
Brewster is a village and the principal settlement within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York. Its population was 2,390 at the time of the 2010 census. The village, which is the most densely populated portion of the county, was nam ...
. Passengers would transfer to the
IRT Ninth Avenue Line
The IRT Ninth Avenue Line, often called the Ninth Avenue Elevated or Ninth Avenue El, was the first elevated railway in New York City. It opened on July 3, 1868 as the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, as an experimental single-track cable ...
for
midtown and
lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
.
From the mid-19th century until 1969, the New Haven Line, including the New Canaan, Danbury, and Waterbury branches, was owned by the
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
(NYNH&H). These branches were started in the 1830s with horse-drawn cars, later replaced by steam engines, on a route that connected Lower Manhattan to
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. Additional lines started in the mid-19th century included the
New York and New Haven Railroad
The New York and New Haven Railroad (NY&NH) was a railroad connecting New York City to New Haven, Connecticut, along the shore of Long Island Sound. It opened in 1849, and in 1872 it merged with the Hartford & New Haven Railroad to form the New ...
and the
Hartford and New Haven Railroad
The Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH), chartered in 1833, was the first railroad built in the state of Connecticut and an important direct predecessor of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The company was formed to connect the ...
, which provided routes to
Hartford
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, Springfield, Massachusetts, and eventually
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The two roads merged in 1872 to become the NYNH&H, growing into the largest passenger and commuter carrier in New England. In the early 20th century, the NYNH&H came under the control of
J.P. Morgan. Morgan's bankroll allowed the NYNH&H to modernize by upgrading steam power with both electric (along the New Haven Line) and diesel power (branches and lines to eastern and northern New England). The NYNH&H saw much profitability throughout the 1910s and 1920s until the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
of the 1930s forced it into bankruptcy.
Commuter services west of the Hudson River, today's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines, were initially part of the
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...
. The Port Jervis Line, built in the 1850s and 1860s, was originally part of the Erie's mainline from
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.[New Jersey and New York Railroad
The New Jersey and New York Railroad (NJ&NY) was a railroad company that operated north from Rutherford, New Jersey, to Haverstraw, New York beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century.Please see the 1891 maps of West Haverstraw and Haverstraw v ...]
, which became a subsidiary of the Erie. Trains that service Port Jervis formerly continued to
Binghamton
Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...
and
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
(today used only by freight trains), while Pascack Valley service continued to
Haverstraw, New York
Haverstraw is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of the Town of Clarkstown and the Town of Ramapo; east of Orange County; south of the Town of Stony Point; and west of the Hudson River. The town runs from the w ...
. In 1956, the Erie Railroad began coordinated service with rival
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad
The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad) was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey (and by ferry with New York City), a distance of . Incorporated in ...
, and in 1960 they formed the
Erie Lackawanna
The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...
. Trains were rerouted to the Lackawanna's Hoboken Terminal in 1956–1958.
Penn Central
Passenger rail in the United States began to falter after World War II. Commuter services historically had always been unprofitable, and were usually subsidized by long-distance passenger and freight services. As these profits disappeared, commuter services usually were the first to be affected. Many railroads began to gradually discontinue their commuter lines after the war. By 1958, the NYC had already suspended service on its Putnam Division, while the newly formed Erie Lackawanna, in an effort to make a successful merger, began to prune some of its commuter services. Most New Yorkers still chose the train as their primary means of commuting, making many of the other lines heavily patronized. Thus the NYC, the NYNH&H, and the Erie Lackawanna had to maintain service on these lines. Mergers between railroads were seen as a way to curtail these issues by combining capital and services and creating efficiencies.
In February 1965, New York Governor
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
and Connecticut Governor
John N. Dempsey
John Noel Dempsey (January 3, 1915 – July 16, 1989) was an American politician who was the 81st Governor of Connecticut. He was a Democrat, and began his political career at the age of 21 serving on the Putnam City Council. He later served as ...
jointly suggested that operations of the New Haven Line, the
New Haven Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...
's struggling
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
operation, be transferred to the New York Central Railroad as part of a plan to prevent the New Haven Railroad from going bankrupt. If the operational merger occurred, the proposed
Metropolitan Commuter Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in the ...
(MCTA; now Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA) and the existing Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) would contract with New York Central to operate the New Haven Line to Grand Central Terminal. Due to growing debts, the railroad would have to cease operating passenger trains on the New Haven Line if nothing was done.
A joint report from both agencies, released in September of that year, recommended that the line be leased to New York Central for 99 years, with the MCTA and CTA acting as agents for both states. In October, the MCTA found that the New Haven Line's stations and infrastructure were even more decrepit than those of the LIRR. The New Haven Railroad's trustees initially opposed New York Central's takeover of the New Haven Line, as they felt that the $140 million offer for the New Haven Line was too low. After some discussion, the trustees decided to continue operating the New Haven Line, but only until June 1967.
In 1968, following the Erie Lackawanna's example, the NYC and its rival the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
formed
Penn Central Transportation
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central Railroad ...
with the hope of revitalizing their fortunes. In 1969 the bankrupt NYNH&H was also combined into Penn Central by the
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...
. However, this merger eventually failed, due to large financial costs, government regulations, corporate rivalries, and lack of a formal merger plan. In 1970 Penn Central declared bankruptcy, at the time the largest corporate bankruptcy ever declared. The same year, the MTA also entered into a long-term lease of Penn Central's Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines.
Penn Central continued to operate the now-subsidized lines under contract to the MTA. In April 1970, Rockefeller proposed that the state take over the Hudson and Harlem Lines, and the next month, he signed a bond issue that provided $44.4 million in funding to these lines.
The MTA and ConnDOT took over ownership of the New Haven Line in January 1971.
In May 1972, the MTA also gained ownership of the Hudson and Harlem Lines.
Penn Central continued to operate all three routes under contract.
As part of its plan to modernize the commuter lines, the MTA ordered
high-speed "Cosmopolitan" railcars for the New Haven Line as well as for the Hudson and Harlem Lines. After a series of delays and derailments in mid-1972, which involved Penn Central trains near Grand Central Terminal, Chairman Ronan expressed his disapproval of the way Penn Central was running its railroads. He said that the proportion of trains running on schedule had declined after Penn Central had inherited the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven Lines in 1968.
Conrail
In 1976, Congress awarded the MTA "temporary" funding so the LIRR and Penn Central commuter routes could be handed over to local private operators.
The bankrupt Penn Central's commuter routes were taken over by
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
, an entity created by the federal government, the same year. Many of the other Northeastern railroads, including the Erie Lackawanna, followed Penn Central into bankruptcy, and so they had been merged into Conrail. However, the handover to private owners did not happen.
In March 1981, the administration of President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
suggested that struggling Conrail commuter operations across five states be transferred to state agencies. At the time, Conrail was being floated by the federal government as a private for-profit freight-only carrier. Even with state subsidies, the federal government did not want Conrail to take on the operating costs of the commuter lines, which it was relieved from by the
Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. Thus, it became essential that state-owned agencies both operate and subsidize their commuter services.
Over the next few years commuter lines under the control of Conrail were gradually taken over by state agencies such as the newly formed
NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...
in New Jersey, the established
SEPTA
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...
in southeastern Pennsylvania, and
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...
in Boston.
In March 1982, the MTA announced it would take over the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines as long as there was no extra operating cost involved. The MTA and ConnDOT officially took control of the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines on January 1, 1983 and merged them into the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
MTA operation and rebrand
Metro-North took over the former Erie Lackawanna services west of the Hudson and north of the New Jersey state line. Since those lines are physically connected to NJ Transit, operations were contracted to NJ Transit with Metro-North subsidizing the service and supplying equipment.
In preparation for the takeover, Metro-North was created as a division of the MTA, with Peter Stangl as president. Once under the MTA's control, the agency planned to phase in capital improvements over the following five years. As part of the transition, the MTA needed to negotiate new labor contracts with the 17 unions representing 5,000 Conrail employees who would become MTA employees and had to negotiate the transfer of most of Conrail's assets.
Much work was needed in reorganization, as significant business success would not appear for at least two decades, following the faltering railroad industry in the 1970s.
Conrail and later Metro-North had decided to trim whatever services they felt were unnecessary. A significant portion of the old New York Central Central Harlem line between
Millerton and
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
, New York was abandoned by Conrail, leaving northeastern
Dutchess
Dutchess County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeeps ...
and Columbia counties with no rail transportation. Most commuter lines were kept in service although they were in much need of repair.
Strike
On March 7, 1983, after labor negotiations between the MTA and the United Transportation Union (UTU) broke off, Metro-North employees went on strike. Commuters were left to carpool or use shuttle buses running to subway stations in the Bronx. Metro-North wanted to eliminate minimum staffing requirements and wanted the complete freedom to assign crews–a demand that the employees would not agree to. This was the first strike to shut down the New Haven, Harlem, and Hudson at the same time since January 1961. The UTU also went on strike against NJ Transit, which took over Conrail lines in New Jersey, and against SEPTA in Philadelphia. Two weeks into the strike, Metro-North President Peter Stangl estimated that it lost $80,000 a week due to the strike. The chairman of the MTA's finance committee, Stephen Berger, feared that Metro-North would lose 5% of its pre-strike ridership of 90,000–costing the railroad $1.3 million.
Richard Ravitch, the MTA Chairman, asked President Reagan to seek legislation to place the dispute under the law of New York State. Even though Metro-North was a state agency, the workers remained under federal law because Conrail was a federal agency. Reagan had turned down a request by Governor Mario Cuomo to intervene, but indicated that he would listen if a congressionally approve proposal was issued. The strike lasted six weeks, and ended on April 18 when the two sides agreed to binding arbitration.
Initial investments
The first major project undertaken by Metro-North was the extension of the third-rail electrification on the Harlem line from to a new station at Brewster North (since renamed ). This was completed in 1984. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, all wayside signals that did not protect switches and interlockings north of Grand Central were removed and replaced by modern
cab signaling
Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an ...
.
In October 1998, the New York State Department of Transportation announced that the Newburgh–Beacon Shuttle would be developed in conjunction with Metro-North, running from the Beacon station on the Hudson Line to the Newburgh park-and-ride on
Route 17K.
Recent initiatives
Metro-North spent the better part of its early days updating and repairing its infrastructure. Stations, track, and rolling stock all needed to be repaired, renovated, or replaced. The railroad succeeded and by the mid 90s gained both respect and monetary success, according to the MTA's website. 2006 was the best year for the division, with a 97.8% rate of on-time trains, record ridership (76.9 million people), and a passenger satisfaction rating of 92%.
In December 2017, the MTA announced that the Metro-North Railroad stations at , , , , and , would receive a complete overhaul as part of the
Enhanced Station Initiative
Since the late 20th century, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has started several projects to maintain and improve the New York City Subway. Some of these projects, such as subway line automation, proposed platform screen doors, the FA ...
and would be entirely closed for up to 6 months. Updates would include cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories, and maps.
The Harlem and Hudson lines and the Park Avenue mainline to Grand Central were previously owned by Midtown TDR Ventures LLC, who bought them from the corporate successors to Penn Central. The MTA had a lease extending to the year 2274 and an option to buy starting in 2017. The MTA exercised their option to buy what was now Argent Ventures' rail assets on November 13, 2018. Under the terms of the deal, the MTA purchased Grand Central Terminal, as well as the Hudson Line from Grand Central to a point 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Poughkeepsie, and the Harlem Line from Grand Central to Dover Plains.
Infrastructure
East of Hudson
Propulsion systems
Most services running into Grand Central Terminal are electrically powered.
Diesel trains into Grand Central use
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
P32AC-DM
General Electric Genesis (officially trademarked GENESIS) is a series of passenger diesel locomotives produced by GE Transportation, then a subsidiary of General Electric. Between 1992 and 2001, a total of 321 units were built for Amtrak, Metro- ...
electro-diesel locomotive
An electro-diesel locomotive (also referred to as a dual-mode or bi-mode locomotive) is a type of locomotive that can be powered either from an electricity supply (like an electric locomotive) or by using the onboard diesel engine (like a diese ...
s capable of switching to a pure electric mode. These locomotives have contact shoes compatible with Metro-North's under-running
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
power distribution system.
Shoreliner
Shoreliners are a class of locomotive-hauled rail car used by the Metro-North Railroad for service on non-electrified portions of their system. They are similar to the Comet coaches used by New Jersey Transit, however there are several differen ...
series coaches are used in
push-pull operation.
On the Hudson Line, local trains between Grand Central and are powered by third rail. Through trains to Poughkeepsie are diesel powered and do not require a change of locomotive at Croton-Harmon. The Harlem Line has third rail from Grand Central Terminal to Southeast and trains are powered by diesel north to . At most times, passengers between Southeast and Wassaic must change at Southeast to a diesel train powered by
Brookville BL20-GH
The Brookville BL20GH is a diesel-electric locomotive built by the Brookville Equipment Corporation. The locomotive is designed for both freight and passenger service. Brookville built 12 in 2008 for the Metro-North Railroad. The Staten Island Ra ...
locomotives. Electric service on the Hudson and Harlem lines uses
M3 and
M7 MU cars.
![GE Genesis P32AC-DM 202 MNCRR Ossining](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/GE_Genesis_P32AC-DM_202_MNCRR_Ossining.jpg)
The New Haven Line is unique in that trains use both 750 V
DC from a third rail and 12.5 kV
AC from overhead
catenary
In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field.
The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superficia ...
. The line from
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
to , uses third rail, while the section from Pelham, New York east to New Haven Union Station, which is , uses catenary.
Multi-system M8 railcars equipped with third rail shoes and
pantographs are used for electric service on the line.
The New Canaan Branch also uses catenary. The Danbury Branch was electrified, but became a diesel line in 1961. The Waterbury Branch, the only east-of-Hudson Metro-North service which has no direct service to Grand Central, is diesel only.
Power is collected from the bottom of the third rail as opposed to the top, used by other third rail systems, including the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Subway. This system is known as the Wilgus-Sprague third rail, and the SEPTA
Market-Frankford Line in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
and Metro-North are the only two systems in North America that use it. It allows the third rail to be completely insulated from above, thus decreasing the chances of a person being electrocuted by coming in contact with the rail. It also reduces the impact of icing in winter.
Signaling and safety appliances
The Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines and the New Canaan branch and all passenger rolling stock is equipped with
cab signalling
Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an ...
, which displays the appropriate block signal in the engineer's cab. All rolling stock is equipped with
Automatic Train Control
Automatic train control (ATC) is a general class of train protection systems for railways that involves a speed control mechanism in response to external inputs. For example, a system could effect an emergency brake application if the driver do ...
(ATC), which enforces the speed dictated by the cab signal by a penalty brake application should the engineer fail to obey it. There are no intermediate wayside signals between interlockings: operation is solely by cab signal. Wayside signals remain at interlockings. These are a special type of signal, a go or a stop signal. They do not convey information about traffic in the blocks ahead – the cab signal conveys block information.
![MNRR maintenance train at Beacon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/MNRR_maintenance_train_at_Beacon.jpg)
Metro-North began upgrading its Operations Control Center in Grand Central Terminal in 2008. All control hardware was replaced and software upgrades were performed. The new OCC at Grand Central opened over the weekend of July 18, 2010.
West of Hudson
Most of the rolling stock on west-of-Hudson lines consists of Metro-North owned and marked
Comet V
The Comet V railcar is the fifth generation of the Comet railcar series. Produced by the manufacturer Alstom, the Comet V is a rather different car compared to previous models in the series. The Comet V has been in use by New York metropolitan ar ...
cars, although occasionally other NJ Transit (NJT) cars are used as the two railroads pool equipment. The trains are also usually handled by EMD
GP40FH-2
The passenger locomotives derivatives of the General Motors EMD GP40 diesel-electric locomotive have been, and continue to be, used by multiple passenger railroads in North America. For passenger service, the locomotives required extra compone ...
,
GP40PH-2
The passenger locomotives derivatives of the General Motors EMD GP40 diesel-electric locomotive have been, and continue to be, used by multiple passenger railroads in North America. For passenger service, the locomotives required extra componen ...
,
F40PH-3C,
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
PL42AC
The Alstom PL42AC is a class of four axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive designed by Alstom in association with GM-EMD. 33 were built between 2003 and 2006 for NJ Transit Rail Operations.
Description
The PL42AC is a diesel-electric 4-axle loc ...
, or
Bombardier ALP-45DP
The Bombardier ALP-45DP is a type of single cab dual-mode locomotive built by Bombardier Transportation (later Alstom) and operated by New Jersey Transit and Exo.
Operators
New Jersey Transit
New Jersey Transit (NJT) purchased 26 ALP-45DP ...
locomotives, although any Metro-North or NJ Transit diesel can show up. Metro-North owned and marked equipment operated by NJ Transit can also be seen on other NJ Transit lines.
Rolling stock
The Metro-North Railroad uses an electric fleet of
M3A,
M7A, and
M8 electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...
s. Multiple diesel locomotives and push-pull coaches are in use as well.
Although Metro-North uses many abbreviations (MNCR, MNR, MN, etc.) the only official
reporting mark
A reporting mark is a code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on certain rail transport networks. The code typically reflects the name or identifying number of the owner, lessee, or operator of the equip ...
s registered and recognized on
AEI scanner tags is 'MNCW'. Rolling stock owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation bears the CTDOT seal and either the New Haven ("NH") logo or the MTA logo and is identified using the reporting mark 'CNDX'.
Fare policies
Metro-North offers many different ticket types and prices depending on the frequency of travel and distance of the ride. While the fare policies of the east of Hudson and west of Hudson divisions are essentially the same, west of Hudson trains are operated by NJ Transit using its ticketing system.
East of Hudson
Tickets may be bought from a ticket office at stations,
ticket vending machines
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...
(TVMs), online through the "WebTicket" program or through apps for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
and
Android devices, or on the train. Monthly tickets may be bought through the MTA's "Mail&Ride" program where monthly passes are delivered by mail. There is a discount for buying tickets online and through Mail&Ride. A surcharge is added if a ticket is purchased on a train.
Ticket types available include One-way, Round-trip (two One-way tickets), 10-trip, Weekly (unlimited travel for one calendar week), Monthly (unlimited travel for one calendar month), and special student and disabled fare tickets.
MetroCards are available on the reverse side of the Round-trip, Weekly, and Monthly tickets.
All tickets to/from Manhattan (Grand Central Terminal and Harlem–125th Street) are distinguished as being peak or off-peak. Peak fares, substantially higher than off-peak, apply on weekdays to travel to Manhattan on trains that arrive in Grand Central between 6 AM and 10 AM, and to travel from Manhattan on trains that leave Grand Central between 6 AM and 9 AM and 4 PM and 8 PM.
Note that peak fares do ''not'' apply to travel to Manhattan on trains that arrive in Grand Central during the afternoon/evening rush hour. Off-peak fares are charged at all other times on weekdays, and off-peak fares are charged all day Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Tickets for travel outside Manhattan, including tickets for travel to/from the Bronx, are called Intermediate tickets and are not subject to peak fares.
Metro-North stations are split between 14 zones in New York state. In Connecticut, the fare structure is more complex due to the many branches on the New Haven Line. Generally, these zones correspond to express stops on the lines and from "blocks" of service within the schedules.
In 2017, it was announced that the
MetroCard
The MetroCard is a magnetic stripe card used for fare payment on transportation in the New York City area. It is the primary payment method for the New York City Subway (including the Staten Island Railway), New York City Transit buses and MTA ...
fare payment system, used on New York City-area rapid transit and bus systems, would be phased out and replaced by
OMNY
OMNY ( , short for One Metro New York) is a contactless fare payment system, currently being implemented for use on public transit in the New York metropolitan area. When OMNY is completely rolled out, it will replace the MetroCard on the Ne ...
, a
contactless fare payment system. Fare payment would be made using
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a credit ...
,
Google Wallet
Google Wallet (or simply Wallet) is a digital wallet platform developed by Google. It is available for the Android, Wear OS, and Fitbit OS operating systems, and was announced on May 11, 2022, at the 2022 Google I/O keynote. It began rollin ...
, debit/credit cards with
near-field communication
Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
enabled, or radio-frequency identification cards. As part of the implementation of OMNY, the MTA also plans to use the system in the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.
CityTicket
In 2003, the Metro-North started a pilot program in which passengers traveling within New York City were allowed to buy one-way tickets for $2.50. The special reduced-fare CityTicket, proposed by the New York City Transit Riders Council, was formally introduced in 2004. The discounted fares were initially only available for travel on Saturdays and Sundays. In March 2022, it was expanded to include all off-peak trains throughout the week for $5.
CityTicket is valid for travel that begins and ends within New York City. CityTickets can only be bought before boarding, except at
Willets Point on the
Long Island Railroad
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...
where they can be purchased on board, and they must be used on the day of purchase.
West of Hudson
All West of Hudson stations are included in NJ Transit's fare structure, and a single ticket may be purchased for travel between any two stations on either system.
Plans
East of Hudson
Hudson Line
On May 23, 2009, Metro-North opened , a station with direct, game-day "Yankee Clipper" trains from all East of Hudson lines. Trains from the New Haven and Harlem lines gain access via the
wye at Mott Haven Junction, the first time that scheduled revenue service has operated across this section of the wye.
Northward expansion of the Hudson Line has often met opposition from residents of communities including
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
and
Rhinecliff, even though the latter is home to Amtrak's , frequented by commuters from northern
Dutchess
Dutchess County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeeps ...
and northern
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
Counties. Supervisors of some towns north of
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...
began expressing interest in extending rail service in 2007.
Harlem Line
There are plans to redevelop the former
Wingdale Psychiatric Center into a mixed-use commercial and residential neighborhood known as Dover Knolls, centered around the station.
Northward expansion took place most recently when it was extended from Dover Plains to Wassaic in 2000, requiring a costly rebuilding of tracks that had been abandoned years before. Going further north would require substantial investment to rebuild tracks,
grade crossings
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
, stations and other facilities that were removed long ago, and obtaining eminent domain for the train property used by the Harlem Valley Rail Trail. Expansion of either line would probably be limited to Dutchess County, as extending Metro-North into Columbia County, and thus to
Chatham
Chatham may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Canada
* Chatham Islands (British Columbia)
* Chatham Sound, British Columbia
* Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi
* Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
, would require changes to the MTA charter, and residents of that county would become subject to the MTA tax.
In 2014, Metro-North officials announced that they would be installing security cameras at all stations on the Harlem and New Haven Lines in order to address public safety concerns. These concerns arose from an incident on September 29, 2013, where the body of 17-year-old
Mount Saint Michael Academy
Mount Saint Michael Academy is an all-boys' Roman Catholic high school in the Wakefield neighborhood of the New York City borough of the Bronx. The school's campus also borders the city of Mount Vernon in neighboring Westchester County and is ad ...
student Matthew Wallace was found on the tracks of the station. Wallace, who was inebriated at the time, was killed when a northbound train struck him while he was standing on the platform. Due to the lack of cameras at the station, footage of his death did not exist.
New Haven Line
Discussions are underway to re-electrify the Danbury Branch with a concurrent expansion to
New Milford. Connecticut officials and Metro-North also began construction of
a new station in
West Haven
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...
in November 2010. It was opened on August 18, 2013. CTDOT is also moving forward on a study to increase freight service on the New Haven Line in an effort to reduce the number of trucks on the congested
Connecticut Turnpike
The Connecticut Turnpike (officially the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike) is a controlled-access highway and former toll road in the U.S. state of Connecticut; it is maintained by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT). Span ...
. Metro-North has upgraded most of the original 1907–1914
New Haven Railroad catenary system, a project begun in the early 1990s and scheduled to finish in mid-2018. The Danbury Branch is to receive $30 million for station upgrades along the line as well as implementation of a new signal system.
Plans to extend the Waterbury Branch northeast from Waterbury are under discussion. The extension would bring passenger rail service to central Connecticut, including the two largest cities in Connecticut without passenger rail service,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
New Britain
New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...
, and on to Hartford, where transfers to Amtrak would be possible.
In 2014, Metro-North officials announced that they would be installing security cameras at all stations on the Harlem and New Haven Lines in order to address public safety concerns.
Penn Station Access
In September 2009, Metro-North announced plans for a $1.7 million
environmental impact statement on accessing
Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals.
Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to
Current train stations
* Baltimore Penn Station
* Pennsylvania Station (Cinci ...
; although this possibility had been considered for several decades, it was never pursued because there was no space for any more trains in Penn Station.
The project depends upon the completion of
East Side Access
East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from its Main Line in Queens into a new station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. A project of the Metropol ...
, which will redirect some
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
trains from Penn Station to Grand Central
upon its completion in December 2022. Weekday Metro-North service in the Bronx includes 253 daily trains with approximately 13,200 daily boardings. In addition, Metro-North also connects 5,000 Bronx residents to suburban jobs, making it the largest rail reverse-commute market in the United States. Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
publicly and strongly supported the project in January 2014.
New Haven Line trains would enter the
Hell Gate Line
The Hell Gate Line is the portion of Amtrak's high-speed Northeast Corridor between Harold Interlocking in Sunnyside, Queens and Shell Interlocking in New Rochelle, New York.
The first portion of the line was built by the Harlem River and ...
through New Rochelle. At
Sunnyside Yards
Sunnyside Yard is a large coach yard, a railroad yard for passenger cars, in Sunnyside, Queens in New York City.
Description
The yard is owned by Amtrak and is also used by New Jersey Transit. The shared tracks of the Long Island Rail Road ( ...
, they would enter Manhattan via the
East River Tunnels
The East River Tunnels are four single-track railroad passenger service tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks ...
. Stations would be built at
Co-op City
Co-op City (short for Cooperative City) is a cooperative housing development located in the northeast section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by Interstate 95 to the southwest, west, and north and the Hutchinson River ...
,
Morris Park,
Parkchester
Parkchester is a planned community and neighborhood originally developed by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and located in the central Bronx, New York City. The immediate surrounding area also takes its name from the complex. Its boundari ...
/
Van Nest
Van Nest is a working-class neighborhood geographically located in the East Bronx section of the Bronx, New York City. Going clockwise, its boundaries are Bronxdale Avenue to the northeast, the Amtrak tracks to the southeast, and Bronx Park to ...
, and
Hunts Point.
Open houses were held at each of the four proposed stations in the Fall of 2012.
Stations would be
wheelchair-accessible
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...
, with
bicycle parking
Bicycle parking typically requires a degree of security to prevent theft. The context for bike parking requires proper infrastructure and equipment ( bike racks, bicycle locks etc.) for secure and convenient storage. Parking facilities include l ...
and multi-modal transfer areas to train or bus.
Cuomo endorsed the New Haven Line portion of the Penn Station Access project in his 2014 State of the State speech, stating that some Sandy recovery money could pay for the project's cost of over $1 billion. He did not mention the Hudson Line portion of the project.
Hudson Line trains would access Penn Station via a change at and would travel under
Riverside Park via Amtrak's
Empire Connection
The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...
. Named
Penn Station Access
Penn Station Access is a public works project underway by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The goal of the project is to allow Metro-North Railroad commuter trains to access Penn Station on Manhattan's West Side, usi ...
, the Hudson line plans call for new stations on West
125th Street in
Harlem, Manhattan
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harle ...
, and West 62nd Street in
Riverside South, Manhattan
Riverside South is an urban development project in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was originated by six civic associations – The Municipal Art Society, Natural Resources Defense Cou ...
.
On October 28, 2015, the MTA Board of Directors approved a 2015–2019 Capital Program which included $695 million in planned spending for the Penn Station Access project. Upon completion of the Environmental Review process, Metro-North will design and implement the track and structural work needed to operate on the Hell Gate Bridge and its approaches in the Bronx and Queens; communications and signals work; power improvements, including third rail,
power substations, and
catenary
In physics and geometry, a catenary (, ) is the curve that an idealized hanging chain or cable assumes under its own weight when supported only at its ends in a uniform gravitational field.
The catenary curve has a U-like shape, superficia ...
; construction of the four stations in the Bronx; and rolling stock specification development for the fleet needed to operate the service.
West of Hudson
The MTA was working with the Tappan Zee Bridge Environmental Review on several options where
the replacement for the
Tappan Zee Bridge would have included a rail line to connect the Pascack Valley Line in Rockland County to the Hudson Line in Westchester County. A proposed
bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...
system using the new bridge was shelved as too expensive, but the bridge was structurally built for expansion with BRT and/or commuter rail at a later date. This is now part of a dedicated bus lane system planned to go into service in late 2018.
Metro-North is considering extending Port Jervis Line service to
Stewart International Airport
Stewart International Airport, officially New York Stewart International Airport , is a public/military airport in Orange County, New York, United States. It is in the southern Hudson Valley, west of Newburgh, south of Kingston, and southwest ...
in Newburgh, a move that could make a Tappan Zee Bridge rail line even more useful, as it would serve both commuters and travelers who choose to fly to and from Stewart, instead of the three major New York City-area airports.
Major accidents
* On February 17, 1987, at about 7:05 PM, a slowly moving 14-car Metro-North Hudson Line train collided with an empty Metro-North train returning to Grand Central on an elevated stretch of tracks at 140th Street and Park Avenue in the Bronx. Twenty passengers were injured in the accident, none of them seriously.
* On April 6, 1988, at 7:59 AM, a northbound Metro-North train collided with another Metro-North train in Mount Vernon, New York, resulting in the death of an engineer. Both trains were empty at the time of the collision.
* On
May 17, 2013, at 6:01 PM EDT during the evening rush hour, two trains collided when an eastbound train derailed in
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...
just east of the
Fairfield Metro station
Fairfield Metro station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. It opened as an infill station on December 5, 2011.
The station has two 12-car-long side platforms ...
blocking the adjacent track just as a westbound train passed traveling in the opposite direction. At least sixty passengers were injured, including five with critical injuries. It also caused a major disruption to other rail service in the
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
.
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
halted all service between
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
.
* On
December 1, 2013, at 7:19 AM EST, seven passenger cars and a diesel locomotive from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal derailed in the
Spuyten Duyvil section of the Bronx, killing four people and injuring 65, 12 of them critically. At least three cars out of seven were flipped over on their sides. The train was traveling into the curve at an excessive speed of in a curve. Amtrak's
''Empire Service'' was halted until 3:00 PM, and Hudson Line service was suspended until December 4.
* On
February 3, 2015, at about 6:30 PM EST, a train on the
Harlem Line
The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...
hit a
sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
at a railroad crossing in
Valhalla, New York
Valhalla is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name was in ...
, killing its 49-year-old driver Ellen Brody instantly upon impact. The fuel tank of the car was ruptured, causing the car and the train to catch on fire, after the electrified and live 700 volt DC underrunning third rail was pulled up and punctured through the roof of the first 2 cars. The accident killed six people, injured 12, and forced the evacuation of hundreds of people aboard the train. The
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
led an investigation of the accident.
See also
*
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
*
List of Metro-North Railroad stations
The Metro-North Railroad (MNCR) is a commuter railroad system serving two of the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan and the Bronx), Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, and Orange Counties in New York, as well Fairfield and New Ha ...
*
Transportation in New York City
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the wo ...
*
Transportation in New York State
References
External links
*
Metro-North Railroad system map
{{Authority control
Commuter rail in the United States
Connecticut railroads
Electric railways in Connecticut
Electric railways in New York (state)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
New Jersey railroads
New York (state) railroads
Passenger rail transport in New York City
Passenger rail transportation in Connecticut
Passenger rail transportation in New Jersey
Passenger rail transportation in New York (state)
Railway companies established in 1983
Standard gauge railways in the United States
Transportation in New England