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12/29/2025
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week announced Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) both broke post-pandemic ridership records this month.
The week of Dec. 15 was the highest post-pandemic ridership recovery week for Metro-North, with 827,015 total riders representing a record 88% of an average pre-pandemic week in December 2019, MTA officials said in a press release.
The weekend of Dec. 20-21 was Metro-North's strongest weekend ridership performance of the post-pandemic era, with 245,638 riders. The average midweek ridership of 244,809 on Dec. 16-18 also stood at 88% of December 2019, a new post-pandemic ridership-recovery record, they said.
Meanwhile, the LIRR also broke weekend ridership records in December: 183,250 people rode the train on Dec. 13, making it the highest post-pandemic Saturday. The LIRR hosted 152,661 riders on Dec. 21, marking the highest post-pandemic Sunday ridership.
The ridership surge has occurred as both commuter railroads posted record on-time performance statistics and customer satisfaction levels, MTA officials said.
Officials at both railroads expect the ridership surge to continue as new ticketing policies take effect Jan. 4 that are designed to enhance the customer experience and help riders save money.