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

FOR RELEASE: April 4, 2016

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

Metro-North Makes East of Hudson Service Improvements

and Expands Quiet Car Program

Schedule changes on Metro-North’s East of Hudson schedules took effect on Sunday, April 3, 2016 to improve on-time performance during peak travel periods, support critical track and infrastructure work and address customer requests. Also, starting Monday, April 4, two Quiet Cars will be available on every weekday train, both rush hour and non-rush hour service.

Certain morning and evening rush hour trains on the New Haven, Harlem and Hudson Lines will be adjusted by between 1 and 4 minutes.  These minor adjustments will decrease train dwell time at stations, relieve congestion, increase train speed, help prevent the cascading impact of minor delays and improve on-time performance.

“After conducting a comprehensive point-by-point analysis of performance on East of Hudson lines, we made changes to existing schedules.” said Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti.  “Refining the schedule allows us to continue to improve upon train reliability, giving our customers service that they can count on.”

The new schedule change also means a quieter ride for more Metro-North customers. “The response to our quiet car program has been incredibly positive,” said Giulietti. “We listened to our customers and expanded the ‘Quiet CALM-mute’ program.”

Starting on April 4, two Quiet Cars® will be available on every weekday train, both rush hour and non-rush hour service. On all weekday inbound trains, the last two cars will be designated Quiet Cars®, and on all weekday outbound trains, the first two cars will be designated Quiet Cars.® Quiet Car is the registered service mark of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) and is being used by permission.

A summary of the planned weekday schedule changes follows:

Harlem Line:

·         Eight morning rush hour trains will be adjusted by 2–4 minutes.

·         All four evening rush hour Wassaic through trains will have intermediate times adjusted by 1–2 minutes. Wassaic arrival times remain the same.

Hudson Line:

·         The 5:35 a.m. train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central Terminal will depart 2 minutes earlier at 5:33 a.m.

·         Arrival time of the 4:54 p.m. train from Grand Central Terminal to Croton-Harmon will be adjusted 1-2 minutes later from Morris Heights to Croton-Harmon.

Metro-North responded to travel needs of our customers and added service. Due to the high volume of customers traveling to the Manitou and Breakneck Ridge stations in good weather to hike, three additional round trips will make these stops on weekends.

New Haven Line:

·         Twelve morning peak hour trains will be adjusted by 1-4 minutes.

·         Five evening peak trains will be adjusted by 1-3 minutes.

To accommodate needed repairs to the Devon movable bridge and catenary wire work, the temporary station at Devon Transfer will be reactivated through October 2016.  All Waterbury Branch customers who usually transfer to main line trains at Bridgeport will instead get off at the Devon Transfer; travel time on the Waterbury branch will not be impacted.  This bridge and track work being coordinated by Metro-North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation will help ensure the on-going reliability of the New Haven Line.