Metro-North Adds Extra Train For St. Patrick's Day, Bans Alcohol For The Day

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has made some schedule changes for Friday, March 17, which is St. Patrick’s Day and the big New York City parade.

The MTA Police Department will enforce a ban on alcoholic beverages on Friday extending through 5 a.m. Saturday, according to a spokesperson.

Any alcoholic beverages found by the MTA Police will be confiscated.

Metro-North will operate an extra train that will depart from Poughkeepsie at 7:52 a.m. and stop at New Hamburg at 8:02 a.m. and Beacon at 8:10 a.m. before running express to Harlem-125th Street and arriving at Grand Central Terminal at 9:32 a.m.

SEE ALSO: NYC ST. Patrick’s Day Parade 2017 Guide: Street Closures, Start Time, Parade Route

With large crowds expected for the parade, the MTA urges customers to buy round-trip tickets in advance at their home stations or via the MTA eTix mobile ticketing app.

On the Hudson Line, conductors will be posted at Poughkeepsie, New Hamburg and Beacon to collect tickets before customers board trains.

New York City Subway

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, some staircases at the 77 St 6 line station may be designated as entry/exit only on both the uptown and downtown platforms due to crowd control.

New York City Buses

The following NYC Transit and MTA Bus routes will be detoured in the area along the parade route between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M31, M42, M50, M55, M57, M66, M72, M79, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, Q32 and most Staten Island Express buses.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels

MTA Bridges and Tunnels urges parade-goers to take mass transit. As always, motorists should never get behind the wheel of a car if they’ve been drinking. Throughout the day, there will be increased vigilance at all MTA crossings to combat drunk driving.

Photo by Dirk Olbertz via Flickr/Creative Commons.