the commuter rail service in connecticut and new york . for the planned metro north rail line in dublin ireland see dublin metro . for the defunct railroad whose reporting mark was mnrr see modoc northern railroad . metro north railroad metro north railroad provides services in the lower hudson valley and coastal connecticut . reporting mark mncw locale southeastern new york ; southwestern connecticut dates of operation 1983 present track gauge 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge headquarters 420 lexington ave new york ny 10170 website mta.info mnr the metro north commuter railroad reporting mark mncw trading as mta metro north railroad or simply metro north is a suburban commuter rail service run by the metropolitan transportation authority mta a public authority of the state of new york . with an average weekday ridership of 298 900 in 2014 it is the second busiest commuter railroad in north america in terms of annual ridership behind its sister railroad the long island rail road . 1 2 metro north runs service between new york city and its northern suburbs in new york and connecticut including in new york state port jervis spring valley poughkeepsie white plains and wassaic ; in connecticut new canaan danbury waterbury and new haven . metro north also provides local rail service within new york city with a reduced fare . there are 124 stations 3 on metro north railroad s five active lines plus the meadowlands rail line which operate on more than 775 miles 1 247 km of track 4 with the passenger railroad system totaling 385 miles 620 km of route . 5 the mta has jurisdiction through metro north over railroad lines on the western and eastern portions of the hudson river in new york state . service on the western side of the hudson is operated by new jersey transit under contract with the mta . contents 1 lines 1.1 east of the hudson river 1.2 west of the hudson 2 history 2.1 new york central new haven and erie lackawanna operations 2.2 penn central 2.3 conrail 2.4 mta operation and rebrand 3 infrastructure 3.1 east of hudson 3.1.1 propulsion systems 3.1.2 signaling and safety appliances 3.2 west of hudson 3.3 reporting marks 3.4 rolling stock 4 fare policies 4.1 east of hudson 4.2 west of hudson 5 plans 5.1 east of hudson 5.1.1 hudson line 5.1.2 harlem line 5.1.3 new haven line 5.1.4 penn station access 5.2 west of hudson 6 community relations 7 in popular culture 8 major accidents 9 see also 10 references 11 external links lines edit metro north system map marble hill station on the hudson line northeast corridor and new haven line in new rochelle east of the hudson river edit three lines provide passenger service on the east side of the hudson river to grand central terminal in manhattan the hudson harlem and new haven lines . the beacon line is a freight line owned by metro north but is not in service . the hudson and harlem lines terminate in poughkeepsie and wassaic new york respectively . the new haven line is operated through a partnership between metro north and the state of connecticut . the connecticut department of transportation conndot owns the tracks and stations within connecticut and finances and performs capital improvements . mta owns the tracks and stations and handles capital improvements within new york state . mta performs routine maintenance and provides police services for the entire line its branches and stations . new cars and locomotives are typically purchased in a joint agreement between mta and conndot with the agencies paying for 33.3 % and 66.7 % of costs respectively . conndot pays more because most of the line is in connecticut . the new haven line has three branches in connecticut the new canaan branch danbury branch and waterbury branch . at new haven the shore line east connecting service run by connecticut continues east to new london . amtrak operates intercity train service along the new haven and hudson lines . the new haven line is part of amtrak s northeast corridor and high speed acela express trains run from new rochelle to new haven union station . at new haven the new haven line connects to the amtrak new haven springfield line . freight trains run on metro north . the hudson line connects with the oak point link and is the main route for freight to and from the bronx and long island . freight railroads csx cp rail p & w and housatonic railroad have trackage rights on sections of the system . see rail freight transportation in new york city and long island west of the hudson edit see also new jersey transit rail operations this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message metro north provides service west of the hudson river on trains from hoboken terminal new jersey jointly run with new jersey transit under contract . there are two branches the port jervis line and the pascack valley line . 6 the port jervis line is accessed from two new jersey transit lines the main line and the bergen county line . the port jervis line terminates in port jervis new york and the pascack valley line in spring valley new york in orange and rockland counties respectively . trackage on the port jervis line north of the suffern yard is leased from the norfolk southern railway by the mta but new jersey transit owns all of the pascack valley line including the portion in rockland county new york . most stops for the port jervis and pascack valley lines are in new jersey so new jersey transit provides most of the rolling stock and all the staff ; metro north supplies some equipment . metro north equipment has been used on other new jersey transit lines on the hoboken division . all stations west of the hudson river in new york are owned and operated by metro north except suffern which is owned and operated by new jersey transit . history edit new york central new haven and erie lackawanna operations edit most of the trackage east of the hudson river and in new york state was under the control of the new york central railroad nyc . nyc initially operated three commuter lines two of which ran into grand central terminal . metro north s harlem line was initially a combination of trackage from the new york and harlem railroad and the boston and albany railroad running from manhattan to chatham new york in columbia county . at chatham passengers could transfer to long distance trains on the boston and albany to albany boston vermont and canada . 7 on april 1 1873 the new york and harlem railroad was leased by commodore vanderbilt who added the railroad to his complex empire of railroads which were run by the nyc . 8 the boston and albany came under the ownership of nyc in 1914 . nyc s four track water level route paralleled the hudson river erie canal and great lakes on a route from new york to chicago via albany . it was fast and popular due to the lack of any significant grades . the section between grand central and peekskill new york the northern most station in westchester county became known as the nyc s hudson division with frequent commuter service in and out of manhattan . stations to the north of peekskill such as poughkeepsie were considered to be long distance services . the other major commuter line was the putnam division running from 155th street in upper manhattan later from sedgwick avenue in the bronx to brewster new york . passengers would transfer to the irt ninth avenue line for midtown and downtown manhattan . from the mid 19th century until 1969 the new haven line including the new canaan danbury and waterbury branches was owned by new york new haven and hartford railroad nynh & h . these branches were started in the 1830s with horse drawn cars later replaced by steam engines on a route that connected lower manhattan to harlem . additional lines started in the mid 19th century included the new york and new haven railroad and the hartford and new haven railroad which provided routes to hartford springfield massachusetts and eventually boston . the two roads merged in 1872 to become the nynh & h growing into the largest passenger and commuter carrier in new england . in the early 20th century the nynh & h came under the control of j.p. morgan . morgan s bankroll allowed the nynh & h to modernize by upgrading steam power with both electric along the new haven line and diesel power branches and lines to eastern and northern new england . the nynh & h saw much profitability throughout the 1910s and 1920s until the great depression of the 1930s forced it into bankruptcy . 9 commuter services west of the hudson river today s port jervis and pascack valley lines were initially part of the erie railroad . the port jervis line built in the 1850s and 1860s was originally part of the erie s mainline from jersey city to buffalo new york . the pascack valley line was built by the new jersey and new york railroad which became a subsidiary of the erie . trains that service port jervis formerly continued to binghamton and buffalo new york today used only by freight trains while pascack valley service continued to haverstraw new york . in 1956 the erie railroad began coordinated service with rival delaware lackawanna and western railroad and in 1960 they formed the erie lackawanna . trains were re routed to the lackawanna s hoboken terminal in 1956 58 . penn central edit passenger rail began to falter after world war ii . by the 1950s the railroad industry began to experience a significant downturn due to overregulation market saturation and competition from the car and the airplane . citation needed commuter lines took a significant hit from this downfall . citation needed commuter services historically had always been money losers and were usually subsidized by long distance passenger and freight services . as these profits disappeared commuter services usually were the first to be affected . many railroads began to gradually discontinue their commuter lines after the war . by 1958 the nyc had already suspended service on its putnam division while the newly formed erie lackawanna in an effort to make a successful merger began to prune some of its commuter services . most new yorkers still chose the train as their primary means of commuting making many of the other lines heavily patronized . thus the nyc the nynh & h and the erie lackawanna had to maintain service on these lines . mergers between railroads were seen as a way to curtail these issues by combining capital and services and creating efficiencies . in 1968 following the erie lackawanna s example the nyc and its rival the pennsylvania railroad formed penn central transportation with the hope of revitalizing their fortunes . in 1969 the bankrupt nynh & h was also combined into penn central by the interstate commerce commission . however this merger eventually failed due to large financial costs government regulations corporate rivalries and lack of a formal merger plan . in 1970 penn central declared bankruptcy at the time the largest corporate bankruptcy ever declared . 10 that same year the metropolitan transportation authority signed a contract to provide subsidies for these lines with penn central operating them . the state of connecticut also provided subsidies in an operating agreement with the mta to continue operations to new haven new canaan danbury and waterbury