NEW YORK — New Year’s Day 2023 marked the 40th anniversary of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad, which began operation on Jan. 1, 1983, taking over commuter operations from Conrail. Since then, Metro-North has upgraded Grand Central Terminal, acquired more than 800 new cars, and added seven new stations. Ridership had more than doubled, to 86.6 million trips per year, just prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
In March 1981, the Reagan administration suggested that Conrail commuter operations across five states be transferred to state agencies. Even with state subsidies, the federal government did not want Conrail to continue to incur the operating costs of the commuter lines. Over the next few years commuter lines were gradually taken over by state agencies. In March 1982, MTA announced it would take over Conrail’s Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines. The MTA and the Connecticut Department of Transportation officially took control of the Harlem (New York-Wassaic), Hudson (New York-Poughkeepsie) and New Haven (New York-New Haven, Conn.) lines on Jan. 1, 1983 and merged them into the new Metro-North Commuter Railroad.
Today there are 124 stations on Metro-North’s five active lines with the passenger railroad system totaling 385 route miles. It is the third busiest commuter railroad behind the Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit.
On-time performance has risen from 80.5% in 1983 to greater than 97% for each of the past three years, even as the number of trains rose 45%. Today, ridership continues to recover, with Metro-North back to carrying 65 to 70% of its pre-pandemic riders.
Metro-North has extended electrification of the Harlem Line 29 miles from North White Plains to Southeast, N.Y., and in 2000 extended the Harlem Line five miles to two new stations, Tenmile River and Wassaic, N.Y. A third main track was installed in 2004 between Fleetwood and Crestwood, N.Y., which provided additional capacity for increased Harlem Line service. In 1999 Metro-North opened a large new station at Cortlandt, N.Y., on the Hudson Line.
In New York, the railroad restored Grand Central Terminal and the Park Avenue Tunnel, which leads to the terminal, in the mid-1990s. It completed a new station at Yankees-E 153rd Street in 2009, giving baseball and soccer fans the opportunity to use train service for the first time. To capture economies of scale, MTA has unified Metro-North railcar purchasing with the Long Island Rail Road.
In 2007, in partnership with NJ Transit, the Pascack Valley Line began weekend service for the first time after construction of passing sidings at three locations. In 2011, Metro-North rebuilt the Port Jervis Line with new large culverts and stronger resiliency standards following damage caused by Hurricane Irene.
In partnership with Connecticut DOT, the railroad has replaced the century-old New Haven Railroad catenary on the New Haven Line and brought service to three new stations: Fairfield Metro, New Haven-State Street, and West Haven, Conn. Also, with CTDOT, Metro-North completed installation of signals, positive train control and passing sidings on the Waterbury Branch in 2021.
Work has begun on the renewal of the Grand Central Terminal train shed, the structure that supports Park Avenue and side streets overhead between 46th and 57th Streets. Plans are underway to rebuild the Park Avenue Viaduct that carries all trains in and out of Manhattan.
Crews broke ground last year on a second route into Manhattan via the Penn Station Access Project, enabling the railroad to serve four new stations in the East Bronx by 2027 and to provide direct service to Penn Station for New Haven Line passengers.
“To see how far Metro-North has come in 40 years gives me, and every Metro-North employee, a deep sense of pride,” Metro-North President and LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi says. “As we look ahead to the next ten years, we hope to celebrate Metro-North’s 50th anniversary having fully recovered our pre-pandemic ridership, with a fully rebuilt Park Avenue Viaduct and a new direct service to Penn Station.”
The MTA has jurisdiction, through Metro-North, over railroad lines on the western and eastern portions of the Hudson River in New York. Service on the western side of the Hudson is operated by NJ Transit under contract with the MTA.
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Also, rebuilt the Stamford station.