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MTA Metro-North Railroad marked its 30th anniversary on Jan. 1.

The railroad, previously called the Metropolitan Region of Conrail in 1982, was known for its "derailments, track fires, mechanical break downs, hot cars in the summer and cold cars in the winter," and was always late when it changed over to the Metro-North Commuter Railroad on Jan. 1, 1983, Metro-North officials said in a prepared statement.

In the 30 years since then, Metro-North has become "the busiest" railroad in the country with a consistent on-time performance of better than 97 percent and a customer satisfaction rating of 93 percent, they said.

Metro-North's next big goal is to provide more frequent service to all stations at all times.

"In July, we announced the largest service expansion in Metro-North's history with the addition of 230 trains a week. Most of the new trains will be on weekends and in the off-peak periods to meet non-commutation ridership that is growing about 6 percent a year," said Metro-North President Howard Permut. "With 30-minute headways, customers are no longer wedded to a timetable."