MTA’s commuter railroads – Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North – are sometimes overlooked by folks living within the five boroughs, and I can see why. In the past, trains whizzed through the Bronx and Queens without stopping for many New Yorkers who could benefit from a shorter commute. We’ve fixed that – both by increasing service and cutting prices to save thousands of riders valuable time and money.
Opening Grand Central Madison was the key to expanding service on the LIRR. Almost overnight, customers in southeast Queens had a ton of new options. St. Albans – where we just celebrated some critical station upgrades last week – saw a 30% increase in service followed by a substantial surge in ridership. The same happened in the Bronx after we added new stops for Metro-North trains traveling between Grand Central and Connecticut and from the Bronx and Manhattan to jobs in Westchester.
But the biggest boon to NYC ridership by far has been the expansion of CityTicket, the discount for in-city commuter railroad trips. This is a program that was first piloted 20 years ago but wasn’t expanded until recently. And now it’s paying for itself, bringing thousands of new riders to both LIRR and Metro-North. Five bucks a ride during off-peak hours and $7 in peak – targeted affordability for low-income and working-class New Yorkers.
Now, we have a chance to double down on these efforts with Metro-North Penn Station Access. This megaproject will add four new stations in the transit-deprived East Bronx and cut travel times to Manhattan by as much as 50 minutes. We fought hard to get it green-lit and underway, but are now facing delays. Amtrak owns the railroad, and we’re determined to work with them to give these communities real transit options by 2027, as planned. I’m thrilled that we’ve gotten so much support from local elected officials, including New York’s congressional delegation.
We also have the backing of Governor Hochul. With reduced Amtrak service to Albany available since the feds started their East River tunnel project, she challenged Metro-North to expand its reach to the capital region. We responded, and those Metro-North trains will start running in the spring to make sure New Yorkers can get where they need to go, even beyond the Hudson Valley.
Bottom line: this isn’t the old MTA. Our fast, frequent and affordable commuter railroads are now as much on track for City residents as they long have been for our suburban neighbors.
Janno Lieber is MTA Chair and CEO.
