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Metro-North's Way Ahead – Moving Forward Plan

Updated Aug 7, 2024
Metro-North’s updated strategy for a strong regional recovery and continued commitment to safety, reliability, and innovation in the delivery of excellent customer service.
Metro-North Harlem Line Conductor Pulling out of Station
Duration 2:37

Way Ahead – Moving Forward

Metro-North is getting the region moving again!

Way Ahead – Moving Forward

A Message from Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi

When we launched our Way Ahead strategic plan in the fall of 2018, we were responding to evolving customer expectations and travel patterns while building on the positive progress we had made over the past several years. We were optimistic and had good reason to be. 

Little did we know that less than two years later, we would be faced with the most significant public health, economic, and social crisis of our time. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, Metro-North responded quickly by adopting the most aggressive cleaning and disinfection program in our history. We provided thousands of masks to our customers, and installed hand sanitizer dispensers at all of our stations.  

The impact of the pandemic on Metro-North cannot be understated. Many of us fell ill with COVID-19, and tragically, we lost several colleagues to this terrible disease. We send out deepest condolences to their families and loved ones. Our ridership fell dramatically, initially by 95%.

But even at the height of the pandemic, our dedicated and hardworking employees continued to do all the work necessary to carry essential workers to and from their jobs — they are truly heroes moving heroes. 

As the region begins to re-open, we have taken a hard look at what it will take for us to recover and for us to help the region recover. We have updated our strategies to respond to new challenges, and we are ready to adapt to whatever the “new normal” becomes.

The strategies we have updated for Way Ahead - Moving Forward will meet the changing needs of our railroad and region as we recover from the pandemic and adjust to structural shifts in people’s work and transportation patterns. 

We are still guided by the principles of safety, integrity, and innovation, and these inform how we have approached this update to our plan to move us forward. We continue to focus on our three priorities: our customers, our people, and our infrastructure. In the pages that follow, we highlight how we plan to recover and set ourselves up for success in the future.

We have all been through a lot. To our employees, I express my deepest gratitude for all that you do and commend you for continuing to exemplify Metro-North’s values of respect, honesty and pride. And to our customers, we welcome you back and we thank you for riding with us! We remain committed to setting the standard for safety, reliability, and innovation in the delivery of excellent customer service.

We know brighter days are ahead, and we are excited to be Moving Forward with you!

 

Catherine Rinaldi

President, MTA Metro-North Railroad

MTA Metro-North Railroad – Who We Are

Our Mission – Why We Exist

To be a safe, reliable, and efficient railroad providing regional mobility and excellent service to our customers

Our Vision – Where We Are Headed

Our vision through Way Ahead is to set the standard for safety, reliability, and innovation in the delivery of excellent customer service

Our Values – What We Stand For

Respect: Treat everyone with dignity

Honesty: Speak and act truthfully

Pride: Own your work and do it well

Our Priorities

Our Customers

The reason Metro-North exists

Our People

Metro‑North’s greatest resource

Our Infrastructure

Including trains, stations, track, structures, bridges, communications, signals, power, shops, and yards

Our Principles

Safety

Which rests at the heart of all our actions and initiatives

Integrity

To maintain the public’s confidence in our decisions

Innovation

To encourage new ways of thinking and doing business

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Metro-North is Moving Forward!

We are responding to today’s challenges and charting the Way Ahead - Moving Forward for recovery and resiliency.

Metro-North remains committed to our vision of setting the standard for safety, reliability and innovation in the delivery of excellent customer service.

Give us your feedback at WayAhead@mnr.org

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