Metro-North's New Haven Line broke all-time ridership record in 2015

Last year, ridership on MTA Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line surpassed 40.3 million trips, marking a new all-time record.

The figure is 2 percent higher than 2014's total ridership of 39.6 million, according to a press release issued by Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy's office.

The inner portion of the New Haven Line between New York City's Grand Central Terminal and Stamford, Conn., had ridership growth of 3.6 percent. Ridership in the outer portion between Stamford and New Haven, Conn., nudged up 1.3 percent.

A New Haven Line train
Photo: State of Connecticut

The number of passengers on the Danbury and Waterbury branches rose 9.4 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, while the New Canaan Branch experienced a 1.7 percent decrease in ridership.

The growth demonstrates that Connecticut must continue to invest in the line, Malloy said in the release.

Over the past several years, Connecticut has made a number of investments to improve the line, including putting 405 new M-8 rail cars into service, along with building new maintenance facilities, bridges and overhead power lines.

Ridership on the entire Metro-North Railroad system last year reached a record 86 million, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced earlier this week.

Connecticut owns the New Haven Line, which is operated by Metro-North under a contract with the state's transportation department.