Want to spend more time enjoying NYC on weeknights? Metro-North has new trains for that
Thomas C. ZambitoMetro-North Railroad added two late night departures from Grand Central Terminal to its weeknight schedule this week to accommodate passengers who want to spend more time in New York City.
One Harlem Line train departs Grand Central at 9:53 p.m. with service to North White Plains and another at 10:55 p.m.
“We made evening service more convenient for customers who take in the theater, ensuring they get to the city and can still count on us for a ride home,” Metro-North President Justin Vonashek said Tuesday, April 1, during a press conference in Grand Central.
What other schedule changes are coming?
The Harlem Line additions are just a few of the Metro-North schedule changes that went into effect Sunday.
On the Hudson Line, the 6:11 a.m. train from Croton-Harmon to Grand Central will add a station stop at Marble Hill and the 8:11 a.m. train from Croton-Harmon will stop at Yankee Stadium — East 153rd Street.
New Haven Line customers can shave 20 minutes or more off an end-to-end commute to Grand Central on the railroad’s express trains thanks to signal upgrades that have sped up travel times.
“Here’s the punch line,” MTA chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said. “Metro-North is now faster than the (Amtrak) Acela coming from New Haven, not to mention cheaper by a lot.”
New Metro-North president: What challenges does he face?
Tuesday was Vonashek’s first day as president. He joined the railroad in 2016, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He becomes the railroad’s seventh president, replacing Catherine Rinaldi, the first woman to lead the railroad. Rinaldi retired after seven years in the top role.
Last year, the railroad logged the best on-time performance in its 42-year history.
But Vonashek takes over a commuter rail struggling to reverse pandemic-linked ridership losses as more commuters shift to fully remote or three-day-a-week schedules. Last year’s ridership of 67.4 million was 22% below 2019 levels. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, railroad ridership is down 200 million from pre-pandemic levels, the equivalent of more than two years of lost revenue, according to a USA Today Network analysis.
Vonashek said his goals include modernizing the railroad’s infrastructure, updating signals and integrating battery and electric-powered locomotives into the railroad’s fleet, a first in North America.
“Public transportation is the greatest equalizer,” Vonashek said. “It creates opportunities that would not exist otherwise. People rely on us, not just to get them where they need to go but to get them there safely.”
For a full list of current and future schedule changes go here.
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.