Bronxville Rail Riders--Metro-North Plans Schedule Changes Starting Sunday

Written by Barbara Heins

It’s time to plan ahead if you’re a Metro-North Railroad rider — regardless of the line you use, there are plenty of changes.

The railroad is implementing new timetables, effective Sunday, Nov. 9 — changes the railroad said has “schedule adjustments that improve reliability and, on the New Haven Line, increase the frequency of service.”

Also, PM Reverse Peak trains arriving in Grand Central between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. have an additional one to two minutes of running time between Harlem-125th Street and the Terminal.

Overall changes range from one to five minutes, so be sure to check the timetable for possible changes to your commute.

Major service changes to look for by line include:

On the Hudson Line in the AM Peak, Ossining has been added as a stop to the 6:38 a.m. train from Croton-Harmon, and will be the first stop on the 7:12 a.m. train from Ossining. This is to allow for improved connections with the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry. If you don’t take the ferry, these changes will have almost no impact on your commute.

Late-night weekdays, the 9:54 p.m. through train to Grand Central is now a shuttle to Croton-Harmon, with a connecting express train from Croton-Harmon to Grand Central, arriving in Grand Central at 11:48 p.m., six minutes later than before.

On the Harlem Line, to reduce congestion on the Upper Harlem Line in the PM Peak, the 5:27 p.m. train from Grand Central will now stop at Southeast, and the 5:29 p.m. train will no longer stop there. If you travel on the 5:29 p.m. to Southeast Station, consult the Nov. 9 timetables for alternate travel options.

On the New Haven Line in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), we are adding weekday off-peak and weekend half-hourly service between New Haven and Grand Central.

On weekdays new trains depart:

New Haven at 11:25 AM, 12:25 PM and 1:25 PM;

Grand Central at 9:34 AM, 10:34 AM, 11:34 AM (replacing the 11:34 AM express to Stamford) and 12:34 PM.

On Saturdays new trains depart:

New Haven at 2:25 PM, 3:25 PM, and 6:25 PM;

Grand Central at 10:34 AM, 11:34 AM 12:34 PM, 1:34 PM, 2:34 PM and 10:34 PM.

On Sundays new trains depart:

New Haven at 2:25 PM, 3:25 PM and 7:25 PM;

Grand Central at 11:34 AM, 12:34 PM, 1:34 PM, 2:34 PM and 10:34 PM.

These new trains serve major stations along the outer New Haven Line and improve travel time by 10 minutes over hourly all-stops trains.

On weekends, where ridership on the New Haven Line continues to grow, we are adding two new express trains to meet the demand:

On Saturdays, a train departing New Haven at 9:20 AM, and only stopping at Bridgeport before heading into Grand Central.

On Saturdays & Sundays, a new train departing New Haven at 10:41 AM, again only stopping at Bridgeport before heading into Grand Central.

Both of these trains should get weekenders into the city in little over an hour and a half!

Also, a new train will operate Saturday and Sunday evenings, departing New Haven at 10:46 PM, closing a two-hour gap before the last train out of New Haven.

Also, in the PM Peak, to relieve overcrowding on the 6:31 PM train to New Haven train, this train will no longer stop at Stamford. But we have added a new train that will depart Grand Central at 6:35 PM, making stops at Greenwich, Stamford, Noroton Heights, Darien, Rowayton and South Norwalk.

In conjunction with this change and to shorten the time between outer New Haven Line expresses after 6:30 PM, the 6:47 PM train from Grand Central will now depart six minutes later at 6:53 PM. The 7:06 PM train from Grand Central will depart at 6:49 PM, 17 minutes earlier, and no longer stop at Stamford.

In response to customer requests, the 5:03 PM train from Grand Central to New Haven will now make a stop at Fordham station at 5:21 PM.

On the Waterbury Branch, look for the addition of new later-evening service on weekends, in response to your requests.

A new train departs Waterbury at 10:10 PM on Saturday & Sunday, which is two hours later than the current last train.

A new train departs Grand Central at 10:04 PM and Bridgeport at 11:41 PM on Saturday & Sunday, one hour later than the current last train.

In addition to these new trains, the schedules of the trains preceding the last train on weekends will be adjusted, resulting in more frequent service in the late afternoon and evening.

On the Danbury Branch two weekday, mid-day Danbury-South Norwalk shuttles (one inbound, one outbound) that were temporarily discontinued last winter while grade crossing work was being done will return on November 9.

A 12:03 PM train from Danbury arriving at South Norwalk at 12:57 PM, connecting with the train that arrives in Grand Central at 2:15 PM.

A 9:34 AM train from Grand Central, connecting with the 10:43 AM train from South Norwalk, arriving in Danbury at 11:35 AM.

New timetables are coming soon and will be available in Grand Central, at outlying station ticket offices, on the railroad’s schedules page, or on the Train Time App.

Patch file photo.