Topic summary
Metro-North Railroad

The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company (reporting markMNCW), branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburbancommuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, primarily operating between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut while also providing service within New Jersey. Areas served include Port Jervis, Spring Valley, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, White Plains, and Wassaic in New York and Stamford, New Canaan, Danbury, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven in Connecticut. Service in Connecticut is operated under contract for the Connecticut Department of Transportation; conversely, service on lines west of the Hudson River is operated under contract by NJ Transit. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.
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 MTA acquired the Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines by 1972, but Penn Central continued to operate them under contract. Service was transferred to Conrail 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 the MTA took over direct operation of Conrail's commuter services in the northern portion of the Tri-State Area and formed Metro-North to run them.
There are 124 stations on Metro-North Railroad's five active lines and three branches, which operate on more than 787 miles (1,267 km) of track, with the passenger railroad system totaling 385 miles (620 km) of route. It is the second-busiest commuter railroad in North America in terms of annual ridership, behind its sister railroad, the Long Island Rail Road, and ahead of NJ Transit (both of which also serve New York City). As of 2018, Metro-North's budgetary burden for expenditures was $1.3 billion, which it supports through the collection of taxes and fees. In 2025, the system had a ridership of 71,758,600, or about 274,700 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2026.
Additionally, the Newburgh-Beacon, and the Haverstraw-Ossining ferry services connecting to Metro-North is operated by NY Waterway, also under contract with the MTA. Also operated under contract with the MTA is the Hudson Rail Link, which is operated by Consolidated Bus Transit (formerly Atlantic Express).