MTA adding 66 trains to Metro-North’s weekday schedule

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced it will be adding 66 trains to its Metro-North”™s weekday schedule on March 27.

According to the MTA, expanding the number of trains on Metro-North”™s three lines will allow for faster morning commutes and bring the railroad to 89% of its pre-pandemic service. Currently, weekday ridership is at the mid-to-high 40% range compared to pre-pandemic levels, and weekend ridership is at about 50% of pre-pandemic levels.

The MTA is also planning to introduce a 20-trip ticket package, which is designed for commuters who do not need the expense of a monthly pass because they only travel to Manhattan two or three days a week.

“We”™re still waiting to see how many days a week people start coming back to work, but we are prepared to greet them with this increased service,” said Catherine Rinaldi, president of Metro-North Railroad. “We”™re especially interested to see what the 20-trip ticket does. We saw a nice take-up with that last week because it does seem to reflect the realities of this post-Covid ridership.”