New York MTA Commuter Railroads Set Post-Pandemic Ridership Records

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that the Long Island Rail Road set a post-pandemic ridership record on May 30.

The LIRR carried approximately 227,623 riders, marking the 41st time the railroad has eclipsed 200,000 riders in a single day since the opening of full service at Grand Central Madison.

Metro-North Railroad carried approximately 214,621 riders on May 23, which is 3.4% higher than the previous record of 207,484 set on May 16.

“LIRR and Metro-North ridership continues to grow as more people travel around the region to work, eat, and play. The teams at both railroads are doing an amazing job providing the safe and reliable service that our customers are looking for,” said Catherine Rinaldi, LIRR interim president. “We want to keep the momentum going and get people out of their cars and onto our trains all summer long as they head east to the Hamptons and to the many parks and hiking trails north of Manhattan.”

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Metro-North took between 3,000 and 5,100 fans to each game of the Yankees recent six-game homestand.

On May 26, the railroad set a new 2023 record carrying 5,017 Yankees fans, which was 10.7% of the gate, and promptly broke that record on May 27, with 5,065 riders, which was 10.8% of the gate.

Five individual Metro-North weekday records were set recently:

• May 22 was the highest Monday with 186,008 riders
• May 23 was a COVID-era record at 214,621 riders
• May 24 was the highest Wednesday at 208,487 riders
• May 25 was the highest Thursday at 201,855 riders
• May 26 was the highest Friday at 187,188 riders