Metro-North’s East of Hudson schedules will be changing on April 3 and officials say the changes will improve on-time performance during peak travel periods, support critical track and infrastructure work and address customer requests.
Certain rush hour trains on the will be adjusted by between 1 and 4 minutes. Officials said the adjustments will decrease train dwell time at stations, relieve congestion, increase train speed, help prevent the cascading impact of minor delays and improve on-time performance.
“After conducting a comprehensive point-by-point analysis of performance on East of Hudson lines, we made changes to existing schedules.” said Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti in the announcement. “Refining the schedule allows us to continue to improve upon train reliability, giving our customers service that they can count on.”
There will also be a quieter ride for more Metro-North customers. “The response to our quiet car program has been incredibly positive,” said Giulietti. “We listened to our customers and expanded the ‘Quiet CALM-mute’ program.”
Starting on April 4, two Quiet Cars® will be available on every weekday train, both rush hour and non-rush hour service, officials said. On all weekday inbound trains, the last two cars will be designated Quiet Cars®, and on all weekday outbound trains, the first two cars will be designated Quiet Cars.® Quiet Car is the registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and is being used by permission.
Harlem Line:
· Eight morning rush hour trains will be adjusted by 2–4 minutes.
· All four evening rush hour Wassaic through trains will have intermediate times adjusted by 1–2 minutes. Wassaic arrival times remain the same.
Hudson Line:
· The 5:35 a.m. train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal will depart 2 minutes earlier at 5:33 a.m.
· Arrival time of the 4:54 p.m. train from Grand Central Terminal to Croton-Harmon will be adjusted 1-2 minutes later from Morris Heights to Croton-Harmon.
Metro-North responded to travel needs of customers and added service. Due to the high volume of customers traveling to the Manitou and Breakneck Ridge stations in good weather to hike, three additional round trips will make these stops on weekends.