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Last year was a record-setting one for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) two commuter railroads.

MTA Metro-North Railroad posted record ridership of 80.1 million — marking the first time ridership has exceeded the 80-million mark since the agency was created in 1983. Based on a preliminary analysis of December ticket sales, the passenger count increased 4.3 percent compared with 2006’s ridership figure.

When factoring in passengers who used the three connecting services managed by Metro-North — the Hudson RailLink bus service and two cross-Hudson ferries — ridership totaled 80.7 million.

The agency also posted on-time performance (OTP) of 97.7 percent, only one-tenth of a percent below 2006’s record-setting 97.8 percent.

However, another MTA agency did post a record OTP. MTA Long Island Rail Road’s (LIRR) OTP reached 94.07 percent, an almost 1 percent improvement from 2006’s 93.3 percent and the highest OTP the agency’s achieved since it began modern record-keeping in 1979. LIRR’s previous OTP high-water mark of 94.04 percent was set in 2002.

LIRR also recorded all-time-high annual morning peak and annual off-peak OTP figures of 94.28 percent and 94.64 percent, respectively.