MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced that very minor schedule adjustments to certain Harlem Line and Hudson Line trains take effect on Sunday, October 8. These schedule changes reflect the completion of a right-of-way improvement project on the Harlem Line between Mount Vernon West and Crestwood in Westchester County on the Harlem Line and switch-replacement work just south of the Beacon station on the Upper Hudson Line.
Metro-North crews undertook an 18 week comprehensive track improvement project that took one of three tracks between Mount Vernon West and Crestwood out of service, reducing operating capacity. To address the reduced track capacity, schedules of a small number of peak-period trains were temporarily adjusted, mostly between one and six minutes.
Working with minimal disruption to customers, Metro-North crews completed the track project on schedule and made extensive upgrades to the Harlem Line, including: replacing over 1,900 ties, resurfacing track, replacing almost 1,200 feet of rail, putting in stone ballast, drainage improvements and general clean-up of the area along the tracks.
With the completion of the project, all three tracks will be back in service, and Metro-North will restore all previous peak-period schedules, reducing the running times that were lengthened due to the track work.
All new fall schedule adjustments are three minutes or less. In its efforts to continually improve on-time performance, Metro-North thoroughly reviews train schedules and actual performance to address sources of delay, eliminate schedule conflicts and more accurately reflect operating conditions. The railroad then makes minor time modifications to reduce the likelihood of cascading delays.
Details of the changes are as follows:
Harlem Line:
- With the completion of significant portions of the Harlem Line Right-of-Way Improvement Project, Metro-North is restoring all previous a.m. and p.m. peak period schedules on the Harlem Line.
- Eight outbound local and express trains will operate 3 minutes earlier, with no changes in running times, to improve spacing between trains and on-time performance of New Haven Line outbound trains.
- Some Harlem Line departures are shifted to provide adequate time for following New Haven Line trains to maintain their schedules.
Hudson Line:
- With the completion of switch-replacement work near Beacon, weekend upper Hudson Line trains will be restored to their previous schedules.
- Four a.m. peak inbound Croton-Harmon local trains will have 1 minute added their schedules between Croton-Harmon and Hastings-on-Hudson to ensure that these trains pass key junctions on-time en route to Grand Central Terminal.
Metro-North has many channels for all schedule information and service updates.
Email and text message service updates – Customers are urged to sign up to receive the alerts by visiting MyMTAAlerts.com. To avoid unwanted messages, a user can tailor the messages to the specific branch, and the specific times of day.
Metro-North Train Time app – Customers who use the Metro-North Train Time app will see up-to-the-minute status for each upcoming train at each station. The app is available via the Apple Store for iOS devices or Google Play Store for Android along with MTA eTix – Metro-North Railroad’s mobile ticketing app which allows customers to buy Metro-North tickets on their mobile device — anytime, anywhere. As a caution, trains that start out their trips on time may experience delays en route.
MTA.info – The rail tab of the “Service Status” box at the left side of www.MTA.info is always the definitive source for the latest status for each branch, updated every minute. In addition, customers can visit www.mta.info/mnr to see special service notices in the upper center of the page.
@MetroNorth on Twitter – Twitter users can follow @MetroNorth to receive updates of a similar nature to the email and text alerts, shortened to fit Twitter’s format.
The above communications channels can be accessed while at home or on the go. For customers who are located at stations, Metro-North will post the latest service updates on digital signs at station platforms and will make audio announcements over public address systems, and on-board announcements made by train crews.
For those who prefer the telephone, information is available from the Metro-North’s Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and saying: “Metro-North Railroad.” For customers calling from Connecticut, the number is: 877-690-5114. Those who are deaf or hard of hearing can use their preferred service provider for the free 711 relay to reach Metro-North at 511.
