Holiday travel tips
- Use the TrainTime app to view all options for your trip and buy tickets.
- Alcohol is not allowed on trains and in stations from noon on New Year's Eve to noon on New Year's Day. The MTA Police will enforce this restriction.
- If you're traveling out of JFK Airport, remember that you'll have to use AirTrain for the last leg of your trip. The AirTrain fare is $8.25, is separate from your LIRR fare, and can be paid using OMNY or MetroCard.
- Buy tickets and activate mobile tickets before boarding. For riders leaving Grand Central on Metro-North and Elmont-UBS Arena on the LIRR after midnight, we will check tickets at the station.
- If you're traveling out of LaGuardia Airport, consider using the free Q70 LaGuardia Link. The bus takes travelers to the airport from the LIRR at Woodside.
- Subscribe to the MTA Weekender, a newsletter sent every Friday with weekend service updates for the subway, Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North Railroad.
Service details
Long Island Rail Road
Sunday, December 31, 2023
- The LIRR will run on a weekend schedule.
- Extra evening trains to Manhattan will run on the Babylon, Montauk, Port Jefferson, Port Washington, and Ronkonkoma branches.
Monday, January 1, 2024
- The LIRR will run on a weekend schedule.
- Extra trains will run between midnight and 4 a.m. from Penn Station and Grand Central to the Babylon, Long Beach, Montauk, Port Jefferson, Port Washington, and Ronkonkoma branches.
- Extra trains to Jamaica, Huntington, and Ronkonkoma will leave Elmont-UBS Arena station after the Billy Joel concert.
- Please follow directions from on-site personnel, as these trains will not appear in the TrainTime app.
- Additional Babylon Branch trains will also be on standby at Jamaica for those transferring from Elmont-UBS Arena.
Metro-North Railroad
Sunday, December 31, 2023
- The Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines will run on a Sunday schedule.
- An extra evening train to Grand Central will run on the Harlem and New Haven lines.
- The Port Jervis Line will run on a weekend schedule with an extra train departing Port Jervis at 4:05 p.m.
- The Pascack Valley Line will run on a weekend schedule.
Monday January 1, 2024, midnight to 5:30 a.m.
- Grand Central Terminal will remain open overnight, with outbound service on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines all night. Some extra inbound trains will also run overnight.
- The Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines will run extra trains from Hoboken with connecting service from Penn Station.
- Most trains that normally run between midnight and 2 a.m. will be replaced by the special service. Please check TrainTime or schedules to view your options.
Monday, January 1, 2024, starting at 5:30 a.m.
- The Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines will operate on a special schedule with hourly service at most stations.
- The New Canaan, Danbury, Waterbury, and Wassaic branches will run on a regular weekend schedule, but please check TrainTime or schedules for possible changes in connecting train times.
- The Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines will run on a weekend schedule.