CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NEWS RELEASE 2800 BERLIN TURNPIKE P.O. BOX 317546 NEWINGTON CONNECTICUT, 06131-7546

FOR RELEASE: June 26, 2014

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS TELEPHONE: (860) 594-3062 FAX: (860) 594-3065 WEB SITE: www.ct.gov/dot

Reminder: Schedule Adjustments Effective Monday, July 7

MTA Metro-North Railroad Adjusts New Haven and Harlem Line Service

      Metro-North will make adjustments to its New Haven and Harlem Line service on Monday, July 7, after closely monitoring performance, taking customer counts and listening to customer suggestions following the implementation of our the 11 schedule change.

      These changes are intended to improve the customer experience by reducing crowding and enhancing connections.

      Adjustments on the New Haven Line include:

      In the AM Peak:

      The 6:50 AM all-stops local from Stamford to Grand Central Terminal will depart Stamford six minutes later, at 6:56 AM. This change will restore a connection with the 5:48 AM train from New Haven, which arrives at Stamford at 6:52 AM. Customer will save up to 28 minutes of travel time as a result of this connection.

      To accommodate this change and prevent train congestion in the segment of our territory between Woodlawn and Grand Central Terminal, the following adjustments will be made:

      • The 6:55 AM semi-express from Stamford will operate five minutes earlier, departing at 6:50 AM.

      • The 7:29 AM from New Rochelle will operate seven minutes earlier, departing at 7:22 AM.

      • The 7:28 AM from Harrison will operate three minutes later, departing at 7:31 AM, but the arrival time of this train at Grand Central will not change.

      Also, to relieve crowding, the 6:20 AM train from New Haven to Grand Central will add stops at Old Greenwich, Riverside and Cos Cob, but will no longer stop at Port Chester and Rye stations.

      To accommodate customers at these stations, a new train will depart Greenwich at 7:33 AM, making stops at Port Chester and Rye before running express to Harlem-125th Street and Grand Central.

      In the PM Peak:

      The 6:35 PM train from Grand Central to New Haven will depart four minutes earlier, at 6:31 PM. This change is being made in response to a crowding issue on this train.

      On the Danbury Branch: The Connecticut Department of Transportation, its signal contractor, and Metro-North will wrap up remediation work on the branch’s grade crossing systems by July 7. As a result, off-peak and weekend train service, which has been replaced by bus service since earlier this year, will resume.

      To accomplish the June 9 Waterbury Branch change that extended the first Waterbury train (the 5:46 AM) from Bridgeport to Stamford, the first outbound train from South Norwalk to Danbury will depart South Norwalk 10 minutes later when full train service resumes on July 7, but will arrive in Danbury at the same time.

      Adjustments on the Harlem Line include:

      • The 6:46 AM from Goldens Bridge to Grand Central will depart from White Plains station two minutes earlier at 7:16 AM.

      • The 7:11 AM local from North White Plains to Grand Central will operate six minutes later.

      • The 7:34 AM express from North White Plains to Grand Central will operate one minute later and arrive in Grand Central two minutes later.

      Minor changes (affecting four arrival times in Manhattan by less than five minutes after 10:30 PM) will be implemented as necessary to support late-night capital improvement projects.

In addition to these schedule adjustments, we have added cars to a number of trains to relieve crowding identified following the May 11 schedule change.

      Metro-North will continue to listen to customer suggestions and closely monitor ridership and service, and will use the findings when developing the fall schedule change.

      New timetables are available in Grand Central Terminal and at outlying stations or view train times on our interactive schedules page.