Metro-North, LIRR ridership neck-and-neck

The Long Island Rail Road is no longer the largest commuter railroad in the nation - or is it?

Preliminary 2010 figures released by the MTA show that, for the first time ever, the LIRR's systemwide ridership fell behind that of its sister railroad, Metro-North.

However, MTA officials say more people still actually rode LIRR trains last year than Metro-North trains. The Metro-North edge comes from counting passengers on connecting ferry and bus services in its system.

With 81,669,332, Metro-North's systemwide ridership for 2010 is about 0.20 percent higher than the LIRR's yearly ridership of 81,507,851 for that year. But, MTA officials said, Metro-North's figures include ridership on connecting services: the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry, the Newburgh-Beacon Ferry, and the Hudson Rail Link bus in the Bronx.

The 570,000 customers using those services are counted twice in Metro-North's total ridership, MTA officials said. Without them, the number of customers on LIRR trains still exceed those on Metro-North trains by about 408,000, MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.

The LIRR's total ridership was down about 1.74 percent from the previous year's total of about 83 million. LIRR officials have attributed the largely steady decrease in ridership since 2008 to the weak economy.

MTA board member Mitchell Pally said that, regardless of whether 2010 was the year that it happened, Metro-North has been on track to beat the LIRR in ridership sooner or later.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

Metro-North, which serves several upstate counties and parts of Connecticut, has made big gains in ridership in recent years, while the LIRR's customer base has remained mostly flat.

As recently as 2005, the LIRR had a lead of 5.6 million annual riders. That's because the northern suburbs served by Metro-North have made bigger strides than Long Island in creating economic hubs outside of Manhattan, Pally said. Those include White Plains and Stamford, Conn.

"I think what it does is that it sets a standard with regard to ridership that the Long Island Rail Road now has to work even harder to achieve," said Pally, who called on the state and federal government to help fund capacity improvement projects, like a third track between Floral Park and Hicksville.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo (R-Merrick) said the MTA is partially to blame for LIRR ridership woes because of its frequent fare increases, including three in the past three years. Connecticut has held down fares on Metro-North's New Haven line for several years.

"One hundred thousand people that are unemployed on Long Island combined with increasing fares is a formula for less ridership," Fuschillo said.

Connecticut Rail Commuter Council chairman James Cameron said he doesn't expect Metro-North riders to celebrate the apparent victory. "Frankly, I don't think people in Metro-North much care that they're number one. All they're concerned about is, 'Can I get a parking spot and can I get a seat on the train?' " he said.