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CityTicket for travel within NYC on Metro-North and LIRR

Updated Aug 17, 2022
If you’re traveling on the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North Railroad within New York City during off-peak hours, you can get a CityTicket for $5.

Price

CityTickets cost $5 and are good for one-way travel during off peak hours that begins and ends within New York City. (LIRR riders can change trains at Jamaica as long as they continue their trips in the same direction.) They are not valid on peak trains.

On LIRR, you can use CityTicket for trips within Zone 1 or between Zones 1 and 3. (See station list below for details). On Metro-North, you can use CityTicket for trips between the Bronx and Manhattan.

These other low fare programs remain in effect:

  • LIRR’s $4 off-peak fare for travel within Zone 3
  • MNR's $3 intermediate fare for travel within the Bronx
  • Reduced-fare programs for senior citizens and people with disabilities
  • Family Fare

How to buy a CityTicket

You can buy a CityTicket at a ticket office, a ticket machine, or on the MTA TrainTime app on your phone. Not all stations have ticket offices. All stations in NYC except for Mets-Willets Point have ticket machines.

You cannot buy a CityTicket onboard a train, unless you are boarding at Mets-Willets Point, or are a senior citizen or a person with a disability.

When purchasing your tickets at a ticket window or ticket machine, you will be asked for your starting point and destination. If your trip falls within the CityTicket area, you will have the option to purchase CityTicket.

  • CityTickets must be used on the day of purchase.
  • You have a grace period that allows you to travel until 4 a.m. the next morning for tickets purchased the previous day. 

CityTicket restrictions

You can’t use a CityTicket:

  • For travel to or from Belmont Park, Elmont, or Far Rockaway stations (because these trips travel through Nassau County).
  • CityTicket is valid for direct travel only. You cannot change direction at junction points.
  • Refunds on CityTickets require a $10 fee per refund transaction.

Stations you can travel between

LIRR stations

Zone 1:

  • Penn Station
  • Woodside
  • Forest Hills
  • Kew Gardens
  • Atlantic Terminal
  • Nostrand Avenue
  • East New York
  • Long Island City
  • Hunterspoint Avenue
  • Mets-Willets Point

Zone 3:

  • Jamaica
  • Hollis
  • Queens Village
  • St. Albans
  • Locust Manor
  • Laurelton
  • Rosedale
  • Flushing-Main Street
  • Murray Hill
  • Broadway
  • Auburndale
  • Bayside
  • Douglaston
  • Little Neck

Metro-North stations

All lines:

  • Grand Central Terminal
  • Harlem-125th Street

Hudson Line:

  • Yankees - 153rd Street
  • Morris Heights
  • University Heights
  • Marble Hill
  • Spuyten Duyvil
  • Riverdale

Harlem Line:

  • Melrose
  • Tremont
  • Fordham
  • Botanical Garden
  • Williams Bridge
  • Woodlawn
  • Wakefield

New Haven Line:

  • Fordham

Questions? Problems?

    If the ticket window at a station is closed and the ticket machine isn’t working, pay the full fare when you board and get a receipt.

    You can then apply by mail for a refund for the difference. Service charges will not apply.

    Mail your ticket receipt and request to:

    LIRR Ticket Refunds Department
    Jamaica Station – MC 1410
    Jamaica, New York 11435

    or

    Metro-North Railroad, Ticket Redemption
    P.O. Box 4117
    New York, NY 10017

    Need help?

    • Call 511.
    • Call Long Island Rail Road customer service at 718-217-5477.
    • Call Metro-North Railroad customer service at 212-532-4900.