Governor Hochul Announces 2024 as Metro-North Railroad’s Strongest Year Yet for Record On-Time Performance

On-Time Performance Record Exceeds 98 Percent, and Continues To Remain Above 97 Percent for Fifth Year in a Row

Delays Down 35 Percent Compared to 2023, Even With Park Avenue Viaduct Reconstruction Underway

Metro-North Cites Agency-Wide Focus on Safety, Efficiency, Reliability and Infrastructure Investments as Catalysts for Record-Breaking Year

Governor Hochul Proposes Major $25 Million Investment to Hudson Valley Rail Service as Part of the 2026 Executive Budget; Focused on Expediting Travel Time and Improving Service Reliability

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad had its strongest year yet in 2024, since Metro-North was established in 1983. The railroad’s on-time performance hit an all-time high in 2024, exceeding 98 percent and notably marking the fifth consecutive year the on-time performance was greater than 97 percent. On all three of its lines east of the Hudson River, Metro-North operated more than 98 percent of its trains on time — Hudson Line’s on-time performance was 98.7 percent; Harlem Line was 98.3 percent and the New Haven Line was 98.2 percent. Governor Hochul is committed to enhancing service and delivering to riders, which is why she proposed major investments to the Hudson Valley’s rail service and outlined $8 billion in State operating aid to the MTA in Fiscal Year 2026.

“Public transportation is an integral component of a working city, and Metro-North is an example of how delivering reliable service to riders every single day can lead to record performance — that’s what we need,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m committed to advancing our transit system for riders, so that we provide exceptional service and keep New York moving.”

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, “Metro-North’s 2024 performance sets the standard for the new MTA - faster, safer and more reliable service than ever before. Kudos to the entire team for raising the bar while knocking out critical projects that will protect the system for decades to come.”

Metro-North Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi said, “I am so proud of the incredible work that everyone at Metro-North does to keep trains rolling every day of the week. Public transportation is the best, safest and greenest way to travel through the region and when people know that they can board a clean, comfortable train that gets them to their destination on time they will keep coming back.”

Investing in Hudson Valley Rail Service

As part of her 2025 State of the State, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed investments in Hudson Valley rail service that would increase capacity, reduce delays, improve safety and cut potential travel times by up to 15 minutes each way for certain trips. This proposal would also shorten "super-express" Metro-North Hudson Line trips to less than 90 minutes. Governor Hochul also outlined $25 million in the 2026 Executive Budget — the proposal includes planning, evaluation and design for a set of rail infrastructure capital improvements between New York City and Poughkeepsie, including projects such as a second track at Spuyten Duyvil, interlocking, signaling and track work at Croton Harmon, and capacity improvements at Poughkeepsie Yard.

This announcement builds off major regional rail investments prioritized during Governor Hochul's term, including the delivery of the LIRR Third Track and the historic opening of Grand Central Madison, which introduced new commuting opportunities on the LIRR, enhanced New York’s regional connectivity, and expanded service by 40 percent.

Ridership Records

Metro-North has also seen ridership continue its solid post-COVID recovery with a 12.1 percent increase from 2023 (60,141,495) to 2024 (67,389,907). October was the most successful ridership month of the post-pandemic era with 6,548,501 riders — a 16.2 percent increase from October 2023 (5,637,482).

Top 5 Ridership Weekdays in 2024 — East of Hudson 

DAY	DATE	RIDERS	RANK
Tuesday	10/29/2024	249,585	Highest ridership since the pandemic
Tuesday	10/15/2024	249, 266	2nd highest weekday
Wednesday	10/30/2024	246,035	3rd highest weekday
Wednesday	11/27/2024	243,529	4th highest weekday
Tuesday	6/18/2024	242,116	5th highest weekday

Highest Saturday and Sunday Ridership in 2024 

DAY	DATE	RIDERS
Saturday	12/14/2024	159,083
Sunday	11/3/2024	123,028

Service Projects and Expansion

The service performance record numbers achieved in 2024 were accomplished even as MTA Construction and Development oversaw the replacement of multiple sections of the Park Avenue Viaduct — the two-mile-long elevated steel structure that carries four Metro-North Railroad tracks between 97th Street and the Harlem River lift bridge, and serves all Metro-North trains traveling into and out of Grand Central Terminal, totaling 750 trains every weekday.

The Metro-North Penn Station Access project continues to roll forward with steady progress. Demolition and construction activities are underway at the project’s four bridge sites, including the erection of two new spans at the Bronxdale Avenue Bridge in Parkchester. Crews are testing signals at switches near Hunts Point, and they are moving forward with station entrance foundations at each of the project’s four new stations: Hunts Point, Parkchester/Van Nest, Morris Park and Co-op City.

When completed, Metro-North customers will enjoy a transfer-free trip between Penn Station, Westchester and Connecticut and four new fully accessible stations in the Bronx, and significant reduction in commuting travel times between the Bronx and Manhattan.

Also in 2024, the MTA made three stations on the Harlem Line fully accessible to all in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act: Scarsdale, Hartsdale and Purdy’s. Building on this success, the MTA is currently moving forward with accessibility upgrades at three Metro-North stations located in the Bronx. Completely new station platforms, amenities, and two new elevators will be installed at Williams Bridge and Woodlawn. Botanical Garden station will be rehabilitated, and the station elevators will be upgraded.

Resiliency

One of the greatest challenges to Metro-North's service reliability is its vulnerability to storms brought on by climate change. The railroad is susceptible to weather at locations throughout the system, and in 2024, crews tackled some of the major areas of concern. In Garrison, where the tracks along the Hudson River are subject to flooding, the team raised the track over 20 inches from its lowest point.

Since the work was completed, Metro-North has not incurred any train delays from flooding in this area. Another problem area for flooding was on the Upper Harlem Line. Crews raised a signal house more than four feet, elevating vital circuitry out of harm's way, using only recycled materials which minimized the cost and impact to the environment. Looking forward, all signal houses will now be at least four feet above ground.

New Haven Line Speed Improvements

The MTA completed infrastructure upgrades on the New Haven Line, creating not just safe and reliable service, but faster service as well. Crews modernized and enhanced signal systems, while integrated network and train simulation tools enabled the railroad to optimize the routing of trains.

All New Haven Line peak run times were reduced by at least one minute with the fastest run time from New Haven to GCT down to 90 minutes.

Transit time Safety

Metro-North is the safe and reliable way to travel the region, with the reportable injury rates for both customers and employees trending lower in 2024.

The following comparisons are for calendar year 2024, compared to calendar year 2023:

• Reportable Customer Injury Rate — per million customers: Decreased 31.5 percent from 2.00 to 1.37.
• Reportable Employee Lost Time Injury Rate — per 200,000 work hours: Decreased 17 percent from 1.94 to 1.61.

The Employee Safety Culture Survey enabled the agency to receive feedback from employees leading to the implementation of Monthly Employee Engagement Days where managers go out into the field to engage with employees, further opening lines of communication. The railroad continues to strengthen its partnership with its labor unions and encourages participation in the Close Call Reporting System (C3RS).

About MTA Metro-North Railroad

MTA Metro-North Railroad provides 700 trains per weekday at 124 stations in the Hudson Valley, New York City and Southwest Connecticut, operating with on-time performance above 98 percent in 2024 and full-year ridership that was 12.5 percent above the ridership recorded in 2023.

In November 2024, Metro-North had one of its strongest months on record with a total of 5.7 million riders — an increase of 4.8 percent from November 2023. Additionally in November 2024, Metro-North recorded the best year-to-date on-time performance in the railroad’s history, coming in at 98.3 percent systemwide, while on-time performance for November 2023 was 97.9 percent. Metro-North’s service-delivered rate — a measure of service reliability — for October 2024 was 99.9 percent. The railroad’s average weekday ridership of 200,087 in November 2024 is 81.4 percent of pre-COVID levels in November 2019, reflecting robust return-to-work ridership — with average weekend ridership of 122,6637, which is 94.2 percent of pre-COVID levels.