FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2019
Contact: John Lyon 845-638-5645

New City, NY - Today the MTA Board voted to waive fare increases for Metro-North's West of Hudson rail riders, based on the ongoing poor level and quality of service that NJ TRANSIT has been providing to commuters on the Pascack Valley and Main/Bergen (Port Jervis) lines.

"I am pleased that the MTA Board has acknowledged the plight of our commuters by agreeing to not raise fares in Rockland and Orange Counties," said Rockland County Executive Ed Day. "I thank Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi for entertaining my request for the fare waiver, and am grateful to those MTA Board members who advocated for us. Now there is more work to be done, and the first priority must be NJ TRANSIT's restoration of the trains they eliminated nine months ago."

As part of their Positive Train Control work, NJ TRANSIT eliminated two of the four Metro-North express trains on the Pascack Valley Line in June 2018, along with a third train on Pascack Valley and four trains on the Main/Bergen (Port Jervis) line. Service on both lines have been plagued by equipment failures and shortages, staff shortages and other issues that have negatively impacted service over the past several years.

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