As pandemic restrictions ease in Connecticut and New York, Metro-North announced new train schedules to help bring it back to pre-pandemic levels.
Beginning Monday, June 21, Metro-North will add 24 new peak trains.
The decision will bring its service back to 67% of its pre-pandemic levels.
Metro-North said that on August 29th, they will add another increase just in time for Labor Day which will bring service back to 83% of pre-pandemic levels during the week.
On June 1, Metro-North said they saw a pandemic ridership record with just under 95,000 trips taken. With more people riding the trains, Metro-North made the decision to extend the hours of operation of Grand Central's entrances 46th, 47th, and 48th streets.
Beginning today, the entrances will be opened from 6:30 a.m. through 9:30 p.m. on the weekdays.
Since last Sept. 28, they had been open only from 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m.
On the New Haven Line, both morning and afternoon peak-period service will increase from 22 trains to 26.
Two Stamford to Grand Central local trains are being added. The first train will operate from Stamford to Greenwich, make all stops to Larchmont and then operate express to Harlem-125th St and Grand Central.
A second Grand Central-bound train will operate from Harrison to Grand Central stopping at Mamaroneck, Larchmont and Harlem-125th St.
Another change in the June 21 timetables is the 7:20 a.m. Grand Central-bound local train from Stamford, which will make additional stops at Old Greenwich, Riverside, and Cos Cob, while bypassing stops at Harrison, Mamaroneck, and Larchmont, which will be served by one of the added trains.
In the afternoon, two Stamford-bound departures are being added from Grand Central, stopping at Harlem-125th St, then express to New Rochelle before making all stops to Stamford.
Two trains from New Haven to Grand Central are being added on weekday mornings, stopping at all stations between New Haven and Fairfield, then express to Stamford, Harlem-125th St, and Grand Central.
In the afternoon, two New Haven-bound trains are being added from Grand Central, stopping at Harlem-125th St, then express to Stamford, then all stops to New Haven.
“We are thrilled to see sustained ridership growth as the region comes back from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Catherine Rinaldi, president of Metro-North Railroad. “Metro-North is increasing service to meet the demand that we are seeing, and we couldn’t be happier to be welcoming so many of our customers back.”
In addition, Metro-North announced the completion of a project which replaced 217 miles of the original 1907 catenary, the overhead wires that powered the trains. Metro-North said the wires could sag or contract due to temperature changes.
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