Governor Kathy Hochul has proposed improvements in rail service between New York City and Poughkeepsie that would cut potential travel times by up to 15 minutes each way for certain trips, as well as shorten “super-express” Metro-North Hudson Line trips to less than 90 minutes.
“Hudson Valley commuters deserve fast, high-quality rail service they can count on, and the investments I am proposing we make today will drive transformational change for generations to come,” Hochul said in her state-of-the-state message. “With these proposals, we are laying the groundwork to deliver faster and more reliable rail service for suburban and rural commuters across the Hudson Valley and beyond.”
The MTA will evaluate and design other potential rail improvements, such as adding a third track to the Metro-North Harlem line or connecting Hudson line service to Penn Station for a one-seat commute to Manhattan’s West Side.
The MTA Metro-North Railroad provides 700 trains per weekday at 124 stations in the Hudson Valley, New York City and southwest Connecticut, operating with on-time performance above 98 percent in 2024 and 2024 full-year ridership up 12.5 percent over the previous year. In November, Metro-North had a total of 5.7 million riders, an increase of 4.8 percent from November 2023.
Metro-North’s average weekday ridership of 200,087 in November is 81.4 percent of pre-pandemic levels in November 2019.
Join the family! 
