It will be more crowded and the wait will be longer on some Metro-North trains come June.
According to a prepared statement, the MTA board approved a package of service changes that add up to approximately $94 million to help close an estimated $800 million budget shortfall this year. Some of those cuts will affect regional commuters.
“We chose the lines with the fewest riders,” said Marge Anders, spokeswoman for Metro-North. “We also reduced the number of cars per train to reduce propulsion costs, so many of the trains have been cut from eight cars to six.”
On the Hudson line, three weekday off-peak trains will be combined with others. On the Harlem line, two afternoon trains will be combined and one discontinued.
“The 7:28 a.m. to Crestwood will be discontinued in Westchester,” said Anders. “Those passengers will leave a little later and have a longer travel time, but essentially, it is not a huge change; fewer than 1,000 people will be affected. We sought out the cuts that would have the least amount of impact.” Crestwood is a Harlem line station.
The west-of-the-Hudson”™s Pascack Valley line will discontinue two weekday peak trains, said Anders. “The 4:15 a.m. train from Spring Valley to Hoboken will be eliminated. Only 15 customers are using that train; and we are discontinuing the 6:55 p.m. from Hoboken to Spring Valley. Those two cuts alone will save $150,000 a year.”
The Port Jervis line, which runs a total of 13 trains, was spared any cuts, said Anders. “Those riders have board member Sue Metzger, who represents Orange County, to thank for that. She spoke out at every opportunity,” said Anders.
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“We pay more into the MTA than what we get in service, and with 13 trains, even losing a single train would have made a significant impact,” said Metzger.
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Changes go into effect June 21.
“Nobody likes to cut,” said Anders, “but honestly speaking, we chose the lines with the fewest riders, trains that have comparable service within a few minutes, so you are still able to get where you are going. These cuts were made with a scalpel.”
Anders said when NJ Transit raises its fares, riders from the mid-Hudson region on the west flank of the river traveling to Penn Station will face another transit fare hike at the Secaucus transfer station.
“The MTA has an $800 million shortfall,” said Anders. “These service cuts are part of the cuts we need to make to close it. We have already made a 20 percent cut in administrative jobs. There are huge changes ahead. The frustration is that it is all happening so quickly.
“Albany came up with the payroll tax, and that”™s brought in much less than was thought would be recouped,” continued Anders. “Albany then took away $143 million earmarked for the MTA and put it into the General Fund. There”™s no money. That”™s the bottom line.”
Commuters reaching New York City”™s limits will find several stations manned by a single booth clerk. Cuts to close the budget gap include consolidating functions across MTA agencies, reducing overtime costs and renegotiating contracts with suppliers, as well as identifying projects that can be deferred or eliminated, said MTA President and CEO Jay Walder in a prepared statement after the MTA board voted on the reductions March 24.
“The extent of our deficit requires most of the cuts move ahead, but we listened to our customers and made changed where we could,” said Walder. “We were able to take a number of cuts off the table, but unfortunately, many of the cuts moving ahead will be painful.”Â
More difficult votes lay ahead, Walder predicted, as the MTA turns to its negotiations with union leaders and the thousands of transit workers they represent.
