As part of her 2025 State of the State, New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a major investment 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, as well as shorten “super-express” Metro-North Hudson Line trips to less than 90 minutes.
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 trackwork at Croton Harmon, and capacity improvements at Poughkeepsie Yard. In addition, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will execute a signaling redesign near Yonkers and climate resilience investments in the most vulnerable and highest ridership segments of the Hudson Line.
“Hudson Valley commuters deserve fast, high quality rail service they can count on, and the investments I am proposing we make today will drive transformational change for generations to come,” Governor Hochul said. “Over the coming years, these much-needed infrastructure improvements will allow us to modernize our rail system, increase connectivity, reduce travel time and strengthen economic connections across the region. With these proposals, we are laying the groundwork to deliver faster and more reliable rail service for suburban and rural commuters across the Hudson Valley and beyond.”
As part of an allocation anticipated to be available for regional investments in its 2025-29 capital plan, the MTA will evaluate and design other potential rail improvements, such as adding a third track to the Metro-North Harlem Line or connecting Hudson Line service to Penn Station for a one-seat commute to Manhattan’s West Side. In partnership with NYSDOT, the MTA will also establish a regional rail working group with New Jersey, Connecticut and rail partners, to promote better coordination on interoperability, ticketing, schedules and customer interfaces. This group will also develop plans to make travel by Metro-North or Long Island Railroad to MetLife Stadium as seamless as possible for the 2026 World Cup and explore future opportunities to further integrate regional travel.
Governor Hochul believes even more can be done to enhance service and deliver for riders on both sides of the Hudson River. Building off a pilot program to enhance the reach of Metro-North west of the Hudson River with ticketing, ferry and parking incentives, New York will also conduct a transit analysis with expert advisors to propose and evaluate additional recommendations to expand and maximize the impact of rail service and look at opportunities for other types of commuter transit for New Yorkers living west of the river and working in New York City. That analysis will include a major employer and destination review in Orange County, exploring options like shuttle bus service timed with Port Jervis Line trains to attractions like Woodbury Commons, Legoland, Storm King, Renaissance Fair, and Stewart Airport.
The announcement builds off major regional rail investments delivered 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.
State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said, “Everyone deserves reliable, high quality passenger rail service, and Governor Hochul’s targeted investments in the Hudson Valley rail network will significantly enhance the rail experience for thousands of passengers who rely on this service every day. When we invest in rail and transit, we are investing in environmentally friendly, dependable and safe modes of transportation. NYSDOT is proud to help spearhead these investments on our state-supported Amtrak services, and we look forward to partnering with the MTA on separate enhancements to Metro-North services along the Hudson Line rail corridor. New Yorkers deserve nothing less.”
“Metro-North is the economic backbone of the lower Hudson Valley, and these are smart targeted investments to protect its future and record-setting 98+ percent on-time performance. In the age of climate change, resiliency is especially important, and Governor Hochul has shown she gets it intuitively,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said.
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 2024 full-year ridership 12.5 percent over the previous year.
In November, Metro-North had one of their strongest months on record with a total of 5.7 million riders, an increase of 4.8 percent from November 2023. Also in November, Metro-North recorded the best year-to-date on-time performance in railroad history, coming in at 98.3 percent systemwide, while on-time performance (OTP) for November was 97.9 percent, and Metro-North’s service-delivered rate, a measure of service reliability, for October 2024 was 99.9 percent. Metro-North’s average weekday ridership of 200,087 in November 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.
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