Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, running service between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, including Port Jervis, Spring Valley, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Southeast and Wassaic in New York and Stamford, New Canaan, Danbury, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven in Connecticut. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.
Metro-North is the descendant of commuter rail services dating back as early as 1832. By 1969, they had all been acquired by Penn Central. MTA acquired all three lines by 1972, but Penn Central continued to operate them under contract. Service was transferred to Conrail in 1976, when it absorbed most of Penn Central's railroad functions after Penn Central's bankruptcy. The system took its current form in 1983, when MTA took over Conrail's commuter operations in the northern portion of the New York metropolitan area and merged them into Metro-North.
There are 124 stations on Metro-North Railroad's five active lines, which operate on more than of track, with the passenger railroad system totaling of route. It is the second busiest commuter railroad in North America in terms of annual ridership, behind the Long Island Rail Road and ahead of NJ Transit (both of which also serve New York City). , Metro-North's budgetary burden for expenditures was $1.3 billion, which it supports through the collection of taxes and fees. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of .
The MTA has jurisdiction, through Metro-North, over railroad lines on the western and eastern portions of the Hudson River in New York. Service on the western side of the Hudson is operated by NJ Transit under contract with the MTA.
Lines
East of the Hudson River
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 (CTDOT) 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 CTDOT, with the agencies paying for 33.3% and 66.7% of costs respectively. CTDOT 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, CTDOT runs two connecting services, the Shore Line East connecting service continues east to New London, and the Hartford Line service continues north to Hartford, and Springfield, Massachusetts.
Amtrak operates inter-city rail service along the New Haven and Hudson Lines. The New Haven Line is part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. Amtrak's Northeast Regional runs from New Rochelle to New Haven, while Stamford and New Haven are also served by the high-speed Acela Express. At New Haven, the New Haven Line connects to the Amtrak New Haven–Springfield Line. The Hudson Line is part of the Empire Corridor, and the Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, and Poughkeepsie stations are all served by Amtrak as well as Metro-North.
Freight trains operate over Metro-North lines, though the company itself does not operate freight services. 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
Metro-North provides service west of the Hudson River on trains from Hoboken Terminal, New Jersey, jointly run with NJ Transit under contract. There are two branches: the Port Jervis Line and the Pascack Valley Line. The Port Jervis Line is accessed from two NJ Transit lines, the Main Line and the Bergen County Line.