Metro-North adds trains to regain weekday riders
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Stamford resident Jeff Maron was one of thousands of Connecticut residents who rode Metro-North Railroad trains into New York City each weekday for work.
Now, Maron works solely from home but is looking forward to a full-time return to office in the future. And as Metro-North offers more weekday trains starting Monday, it is taking another step toward a return to prepandemic service.
“Increasing the frequency of trains is one attribute of a return to work and commuting mentality,” Maron said.
With the service enhancement by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, each of the Metro-North Railroad lines — New Haven, Harlem and Hudson — will see a bump in weekday trains as the agency struggles to boost its weekday ridership rates.
The increase in service will result in train service reaching 89 percent of prepandemic levels, according to a Feb. 22 MTA statement.
“As more riders return to traditional peak periods, MetroNorth is improving the attractiveness of its weekday service,” Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi said. “We have been listening to our customers and the message is clear – they want more trains and seating capacity as well as faster trips. This is exactly what our latest service increase provides.”
The increase in service will offer more peak trains with shorter travel times and an increase in train arrivals, according to the statement. It will also mean less crowded trains and a reduction in travel times at some stations by up to 13 minutes.
For New Haven Line riders, weekday service will increase from 244 to 278 trains, with additional trains between Grand Central, Stamford and New Haven, according to the statement.
In New York, weekday trains on the Harlem Line will increase from 190 to 208 and on the Hudson Line from 142 to 156.
New Haven is seeing the largest boost in service because it is the busiest of the three MetroNorth lines, said Aaron Donovan, MTA’s deputy communications director.
“All of the lines have, generally speaking, the same reductions and increases in services as the pandemic unfolded or evolved,” Donovan said. “New Haven is the busiest line and has most trains to start.”
The MTA’s goal with the service increase is to entice weekday riders to return to the train system, Donovan said. With the changes, there will be more express peak-hour trains as well, he said.
Recently, Metro-North ridership tipped over the 50 percent marker, Donovan said, meaning the railroad is at about half of prepandemic rider levels.
The increase in service comes on the heels of the MTA’s return to peak fare costs and the rollout of a new 20-trip ticket, presented as a cost-effective alternative to the monthly pass.
“For someone previously on a five-day schedule, now, perhaps a 20-trip ticket is attractive,” Donovan said.
Jeff Maron, the Stamford commuter, said that Metro-North was returning to normalcy in a skewed order, suggesting that a return of more train service should have come before a return to peak costs, or, at the same time.
“If we do it piecemeal, we are never going to get everybody back to what we used to have. Too many folks have now gotten used to the new normal,” Maron said. “I applaud the MTA for increasing service, but that alone is not a determining factor in getting people back on the rails, especially people who need to get on subway when they get to Manhattan.”
Maron, who is vice chair of the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, said he had traveled to work on Metro-North trains for three decades before COVID-19 changed the workplace.
Using a monthly pass, Maron rode the rails to and from work in NYC “from the crack of dawn to the edge of night.” When COVID-19 hit, he was amid a job change and worked remotely until September 2020, when he began driving into work each day.
“I started taking the train spring 2021 and through spring and summer 2021, I then mixed between driving and taking the train, but mostly driving,” Maron said. “From November 2021 forward, I was working only from home. I talked to a lot of people constantly about what’s happening on the rails. Part is the city issue and part is the subway.”
Like many, Maron believes the lower train ridership numbers reflect a systemic shift in working culture and the realization that many jobs can be done remotely. Most of Maron’s company, however, is back in the office daily, where he hopes to be soon, too.
State Sen. Will Haskell, who chairs the state Transportation Committee, also believes MetroNorth ridership will eventually return to previous levels, if not on the same schedule.
While chairing the Transportation Committee, Haskell is also seeped in some of the areas most impacted by the fluctuations in Metro-North as he represents Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton.
“Commuting patterns may look different in perpetuity. It may no longer be necessary to go to the city five days a week,” Haskell said. “Even if folks aren’t commuting in the same way, we will see the same level of ridership. If not Tuesday morning, then Friday night. If not Wednesday evening, then Saturday evening.”
Regardless of the current ridership patterns or levels, Haskell said a return to 89 percent of prepandemic train service is a positive sign for Metro-North.
“That means we are nearly back to what we were before anyone heard of ‘social distancing,’” he said.