The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Dec. 24 announced that with the month still incomplete the Metro-North Railroad has already broken ridership records since the Covid pandemic. The MTA also reported that the Long Island Rail Road also broke records for ridership this month.
The MTA said that during the week of Dec. 15 Metro-North achieved the highest post-pandemic ridership with 827,015 total customers, 88% of the ridership from December 2019. The weekend of Dec. 20-21 was Metro-North’s strongest weekend ridership performance of the post-pandemic era, with 245,638 customers. Average midweek ridership of 244,809 on Tuesday-Thursday, December 16-18, also stood at 88% of December 2019, a new post-pandemic ridership-recovery record.
North train on Hudson Line.
On the LIRR 183,250 people rode the train on Saturday, Dec. 13, making it the highest post-pandemic Saturday. The LIRR saw 152,661 customers on Sunday, Dec. 21, marking the highest post-pandemic Sunday ridership.
“We’re thrilled to see record ridership on Metro-North,” said Metro-North President Justin Vonashek. “We look forward to welcoming even more riders in the new year and encourage everyone to take advantage of the new discounts taking effect in January.”
The MTA said that the ridership surge comes as both commuter railroads enjoy record on-time performance statistics, which have consistently been at or near 97% in 2025. The railroad also reported that customer satisfaction levels are at all-time highs with 85% of the riders who participated in a survey having praise for Metro-North.
New discounts going into effect in the new year include those for seniors, people with disabilities and those on Medicare that will be valid at all times. The Family Fare program will be expanded to include children under the age of 18, who can ride for $1 with a fare-paying adult. One-way paper and mobile tickets will be valid until 4:00 a.m. the next day, giving riders more flexibility. A new unlimited day pass replaces the round trip ticket and will be valid until 4:00 a.m. the next day.
