New York City, January 23, 2012 - Even with the economic downturn last year, July's heatwave, the snow storm outages and Hurricane Irene's devastation north of the town of Suffern, Metro-North posted its second-highest ridership levels in its history - topped only by 2008's figure of 83.6 million riders and became the top commuter railroad in the country and North America. It has been noted in recent months that Metro-North would supplant the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in this category. 2011 saw Metro-North carry more than 82 million commuters last year with a 96.9% on-time performance record for 209,020 train trips.
That's not all - this year's ridership figures are anticipated to be 2% higher than last year.
MTA Metro-North President Howard Permut said in a prepared statement, “This growth is gratifying because people have a choice in travel. They are voting with their feet by taking Metro-North because of the value we provide. This growth is the continuation of a long-term trend and is a result of our unwavering focus on reliability, cleanliness, customer service and safety."
Among the improvements on the railroad are the new M-8 emu (electrical multiple unit) cars [see above] and their smooth ride which I enjoy immensely into the historic Grand Central Terminal [right].
I'm a daily rider on Metro-North and always find my interactions with their front line personnel to be courteous and professional - maybe there's more to this story than just commuters voting with their feet!
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