Starting March 26 Minor Schedule Adjustments Will be in Effect Through June 10 to Support Infrastructure Work on East-of-Hudson Lines
Schedule Update Adds Yankee Clippers Gameday Service for Baseball Season, With Metro-North Offering Direct Service to Yankee Stadium Before and After Most Games
MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced upcoming schedule adjustments on the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines to support state of good repair work. The new schedule will go into effect on Sunday, March 26, and be in effect through Saturday, June 10. The minor adjustments on the schedule will support ongoing infrastructure improvements happening on all three of the railroad’s East of Hudson lines.
“Metro-North made some strategic adjustments to minimize impact to most customers, while also allowing us to complete vital state of good repair work,” said Metro-North Railroad President and LIRR Interim President Catherine Rinaldi. “The fun part of the schedule update is the return of the Yankee Clipper service. Baseball season is always an enjoyable time for the region as it means warmer weather is right around the corner, and with direct service options, Metro-North remains an attractive option for Yankees fans to get to the game.”
Weekday service on all three lines and weekend service on the Harlem and New Haven Lines will see minor changes for some trains at select stations. Weekend service on the Hudson Line has significant adjustments. Customers are encouraged to check TrainTime or new.mta.info to see if their normal train time has been adjusted. Here is what is going on along each line, and schedule adjustments being made to accommodate the work.
Hudson Line
Weekday service on the Hudson Line will see only minor adjustments.
Metro-North is replacing track switches near Morris Heights and Marble Hill, in the most capacity-constrained segments of the Bronx. This significant infrastructure work requires that weekend Hudson Line service be temporarily reduced to one local train and one express train hourly in each direction. Weekend schedules also accommodate projects including the Park Avenue Viaduct Replacement Project work happening near the Harlem River Lift Bridge, the Hudson Express Cable Project between Cortlandt and Manitou, and additional signal work and other state of good repair work occurring along the line.
Harlem Line
There will be minor adjustments to train times during the evening rush hour to select Upper Harlem trains to minimize station congestion at Southeast. There is an ongoing platform-renewal project at North White Plains and grade-crossing replacement work occurring further north near the Valhalla station.
New Haven Line
There are ongoing infrastructure improvements along the New Haven Line, both in New York and Connecticut. On the New York side of the line, Metro-North crews are working on the replacement of overhead bridges in Mt. Vernon, an electrical substation replacement in Pelham, and switch work in New Rochelle.
In partnership with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, there is elevator and escalator replacement work at Stamford station that requires one platform to be taken out of service. To accommodate this project and minimize crowding and train congestion, four Grand Central-bound morning rush hour trains will continue to bypass Stamford. Going towards New Haven, nine trains in the morning and evening rush hour will continue to bypass the station.
Other infrastructure improvement work happening in Connecticut includes rail replacement between Stamford and South Norwalk, catenary work associated with the Walk Bridge Replacement Project, and the continuation of Metro-North's SmartTrack state of good repair work between Milford and New Haven.
Return of Metro-North's Yankee Clippers
Metro-North's schedule update also includes the return of game-day service to Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees open their season at home against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, March 30, at 1:05 p.m. For Opening Day, Metro-North will operate shuttle trains between Grand Central Terminal (GCT), Harlem/125th Street station and Yankees/E 153rd Street stations and will also make a stop at the stadium on several additional Hudson Line trains. Riders from the Harlem and New Haven lines may connect at Harlem/125th Street station for the short ride to the stadium.
For evening games on weekdays and all games on weekends, Yankee Clippers are special game-day trains which provide a direct one-seat ride from the railroad’s East of Hudson lines to Yankees-E 153rd St station.
In addition to the Yankee Clipper trains, for every game Metro-North will operate shuttle trains between GCT, Harlem/125th St and Yankees/E 153rd St stations for fans coming from Manhattan or who are transferring at Harlem/125th station from Harlem and New Haven Line trains, and several regularly scheduled Hudson Line trains will make an extra stop at the stadium.