Governor Hochul Announces MTA Ridership Surge Across Railroads as Long Island Rail Road Surpasses Prepandemic Levels and Metro-North Breaks Weekend Records

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) achieved several significant milestones following a surge in railroad ridership, with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the second time this year, and Metro-North Railroad setting new weekend ridership records, driven by fall travel, including foliage trains serving the Hudson Valley. Ridership on both railroads is at or near historic highs for both weekday and weekend travel, with LIRR monthly ridership in September now exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

"When I became Governor, I committed to bring riders back to mass transit from Poughkeepsie to Patchogue, because a strong rail system is vital to our entire state's economy," Governor Hochul said. "Many said we would never see pre-pandemic ridership again, but I doubled down on our railroads with investments in safety, increased and faster service, and completing historic projects like Grand Central Madison. Now, New York's transit renaissance has seen ridership climb to record highs as New Yorkers take full advantage of the speed, affordability and convenience of riding the rails for work, school, and to experience the unmatched beauty of a New York fall."

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said, "Turns out if you build it - or in this case, invest in transit - New Yorkers will come. Commuter rail ridership is surging because we invested in expanding service, expanded our customer base, and kept fares affordable. More to come as we deliver on the $68 billion Capital Plan championed by Governor Hochul."

Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free said, "The LIRR has undergone a massive transformation in recent years, modernizing the railroad, improving reliability, and increasing service by 41 percent since the opening of Grand Central Madison. The ridership numbers speak for themselves. We look forward to the future and building on that success as we continue improving travel on Long Island."

Metro-North Railroad President Justin Vonashek said, "Metro-North is having a record-breaking fall, adding 40 trains on each weekend day in October to accommodate the thousands of visitors heading to the Hudson Valley. This ridership boom is a testament to the exceptional service we provide and our ability to adapt quickly to meet demand. There is a lot to celebrate with these milestones and even more to look forward to, with generational investments in new railcars and expansion of service that will transform regional travel."

LIRR Ridership Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels

The LIRR continues to see strong ridership growth with September 2026 ridership reaching 102 percent of 2019 September levels. This marks the second time since the pandemic that the LIRR exceeded 2019 ridership for a calendar month; the first time was June, which also reached 102 percent of its 2019 levels.

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the LIRR carried 321,497 riders, its second highest weekday ridership of 2026 - surpassed only by June 18's ridership for the Knicks Championship Parade with 369,482 riders. The LIRR also recorded three consecutive weeks in September with Tuesday - Thursday ridership exceeding 300,000 customers each day - a first since the pandemic.

The growth follows investments that have expanded service and improved connectivity across Long Island and New York City. The opening of Grand Central Madison and completion of the Main Line Third Track and Double Track projects have enabled a 41% increase in LIRR service, providing customers with more frequent trains and greater travel flexibility.

Metro-North Ridership Continues to Climb, Boosted by Super-Express Service

Metro-North ridership reached 90 percent of September 2019 levels, making September its second-strongest month for ridership recovery in 2026, behind June, when ridership reached 93.2 percent of June 2019 levels.

The railroad achieved its highest weekday ridership (Monday through Friday) between Sept. 21 and Sept. 25, carrying a total of 1,294,011 riders. Excluding the Knicks Championship Parade on June 18 when Metro-North carried 302,486 riders, Metro-North's strongest single-day ridership was on June 17, with 277,410 riders, 93.8 percent of June 2019 weekday ridership.

Metro-North is also seeing strong ridership growth on the super-express trains introduced on the Hudson Line in April 2025 and New Haven Line in July 2022. These trains can save Hudson Line customers up to 14 minutes daily on their commute and New Haven Line riders up to 50 minutes.

Since spring 2026, ridership on the Hudson and New Haven Line super-express trains has outpaced overall peak-period growth on their respective lines. Hudson Line super express ridership increased 8 percent while New Haven Line super express ridership grew 6 percent.

Weekend Ridership Surge on Both Railroads

Weekend ridership recovery has consistently outperformed weekday travel since the pandemic. Through October 2026, Saturday ridership across the railroads increased 66 percent compared to the same period in 2022, and Sunday ridership grew 64 percent, highlighting the increase in commuter railroad travel for discretionary trips.

The LIRR recorded its busiest weekend of the year on Sept. 5-6, carrying 353,308 customers, 62 percent above 2019 September average weekend ridership.

Each fall, Metro-North sees a surge in weekend demand on the Upper Hudson Line as leaf season peaks. On Oct. 3, Metro-North introduced its Leaf Peeper service with five additional outbound and three additional inbound trains. In response to very strong ridership, just two weeks later, on Oct. 17, they expanded further - adding six more outbounds and six more inbounds.

In total, Metro-North is now running 40 extra weekend trains on Saturdays and Sundays to meet demand. Fall season ridership is now twice what it was in 2019. Additional Hudson Line weekend service will continue through Sunday, Nov. 8.

To compare, in 2019, Metro-North operated just three Saturday outbound trains and one Sunday outbound. This fall, Metro-North is operating 11 outbounds each weekend day. This extra service totals approximately 6,930 outbound trips, nearly triple over the 2,040 trips offered in 2019.

This past weekend, Oct. 24-25, Metro-North carried a total of 323,423 customers, beating its previous record of 302,610 riders for the weekend of June 13-14, and 25.5 percent higher than 2019 October weekend ridership. This past weekend's record was boosted by the increase of riders traveling to the Hudson Valley to enjoy peak fall foliage and seasonal festivities, including Tarrytown's Halloween parade.

CityTicket Ridership Growth

Ridership within New York City is growing faster than the railroad system overall, supported by more service and more affordable fare options.

Under Governor Hochul's leadership, the MTA expanded the CityTicket program from a weekend-only option to include an off-peak weekday ticket in February 2022, followed by a peak CityTicket option in August 2023 and, most recently, a CityTicket Day Pass in January 2026.

Between 2022 and 2025, CityTicket sales have surged 361 percent, with several stations experiencing significant growth:

• Melrose (503 percent)
• Laurelton (478 percent)
• Bayside (294 percent)
• Fordham (173 percent)

Investing in the Future of Railroad Travel

The MTA is building on this momentum with projects designed to increase capacity, improve reliability and support continued ridership growth across both railroads.

New passenger trains are on the way for the LIRR and Metro-North. In June 2025, the MTA approved the purchase of 316 M-9A railcars, including 160 for the LIRR and 156 for Metro-North, thanks to funding secured by Governor Hochul.

In May 2026, the MTA also began seeking proposals from railcar manufacturers for 252 new single-level passenger coaches for Metro-North. This initiative is being funded by the MTA's 2025-29 Capital Plan, which received historic funding from Governor Hochul and the State. The plan includes $6 billion specifically for Metro-North to upgrade passenger cars and infrastructure.

On the Long Island Rail Road, the Jamaica Capacity Improvements project will ease bottlenecks and improve train throughput. In parallel, as part of her 2026 State of the State, Governor Kathy Hochul unveiled a plan to advance a redesign of Jamaica Station, securing $50 million in her FY27 Enacted Budget for design work. The redesign aims to better integrate subway, Long Island Rail Road and AirTrain service for the 200,000 daily riders who pass through this transit hub every day.

For the Metro-North Railroad, major infrastructure improvements include replacing the Grand Central Train Shed and Park Avenue Viaduct. Penn Station Access, the transformational project to bring Metro-North's New Haven Line to Penn Station for the first time, will expand regional connectivity and reduce travel times, and Hudson Line resiliency improvements will strengthen service reliability.

The MTA is also supporting transit-oriented development in Beacon, Harrison and Westbury to encourage housing growth near railroad stations and attract future riders.