Metro North Service To Our Games

[Gotham Gator]

With the home opener just over 6 weeks away, it is time to get in touch with Metro North about improving train service to and from our home games. I encourage everyone to go to the website below to request direct train service as is done for Yankee games. I've also set forth more details about how all this works below for those who are interested, along with the suggested wording of your message. Even if you don't live in Metro North territory, you will be doing your club and its fans a big favor if you send a message.

http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/app/ask

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To summarize, there are 3 main Metro North lines - Hudson, Harlem and New Haven. There is a Yankee Stadium stop on the Hudson Line that can also be accessed by the Harlem and New Haven lines by track located just north of the Harlem River Bridge. For several years now, Metro North has offered special Yankee Clipper trains when the Yankees are playing at home. All three Metro North lines have trains that go directly to the Yankee Stadium stop , with return trains leaving at specified intervals after games. They are unquestionably the best way to get to a Yankee game from Westchester and Connecticut.

For NYCFC games, however, the MTA took a different approach last year. They did not run special direct trains. Instead, they added a few extra trains shuttling from the Harlem station up to Yankee Stadium. This meant fans living on the Harlem and New Haven lines (the two biggest) had to go to 125th Street, wait around, and then transfer to a new train. Worse was after games because the extra shuttle trains didn't leave at convenient times. Add to this that most games were on weekends, when there are far fewer trains, meaning there was a long wait time - basically the whole thing didn't work.

Our club and its fans deserve to have direct trains to the games. I understand the MTA holding off a year ago since nobody really knew what fan support for our club would be like. Now, the data are in. We averaged 29,016 fans per game last year, compared to 39,922 for the Yankees. Yes, it's less, but not a lot less, and there is every indication we will have more fans in 2016. Our average attendance over the last half of the year was 31,232, and we have a more attractive home schedule. Those kinds of numbers can clearly support direct train service to the game.

Here is the text of the message I will send to the MTA. Feel free to adapt it for your own message.

Hi. I am writing in regard to the coming season for NYCFC at Yankee Stadium. The home opener is coming up quickly on March 13.

I request and strongly encourage you to improve Metro North service for these games, including direct trains to Yankee Stadium from all three Metro North lines, as is done for NY Yankee games. I understand Metro North taking a "wait-and-see" approach last year, but the fan support for NYCFC has been terrific and clearly justifies running a few game day trains. NYCFC averaged over 29,000 fans at home games last year, including over 31,000 fans over the last half of the season. Plus, there is every reason to expect strong fan support to continue, with season ticket sales strong, and a very attractive set of home games in 2016.

Last year, Metro North was kind enough to offer extra shuttle trains to and from Harlem/125th Street. While these are appreciated, they weren't very convenient for travelers, especially on the frequent Sunday games, when connecting service on the Harlem and New Haven lines was infrequent. Frankly, there is no substitute for the game day trains that take fans directly to and the stadium. As a season ticket holder who lives on the Harlem line, I can assure you that plenty of riders would love to take advantage of this service for NYCFC games.

Thanks much.

 

[The Toe]

I'm in agreement with you that there should be more to fans. Really, it might just be a matter of adjusting trains by 10-15 mins at 125th (if folks on the Harlem/New Haven lines are JUST missing north-bound trains). The fact of the matter is that the MNR count for Yankees was near 4,000-5000 each game with NYCFC drawing only 1,500-ish riders each game (one day, every other week on average) , so you can see why they'd cater towards Yankee fans and not so much NYCFC fans. It'd be great to see trains every 15 mins from Yankees-153rd for the hour after each game, but I'm not sure how plausible that is with staffing/schedules. It'd be nice if they could get them in sync somehow.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I'm in agreement with you that there should be more to fans. Really, it might just be a matter of adjusting trains by 10-15 mins at 125th (if folks on the Harlem/New Haven lines are JUST missing north-bound trains). The fact of the matter is that the MNR count for Yankees was near 4,000-5000 each game with NYCFC drawing only 1,500-ish riders each game (one day, every other week on average) , so you can see why they'd cater towards Yankee fans and not so much NYCFC fans. It'd be great to see trains every 15 mins from Yankees-153rd for the hour after each game, but I'm not sure how plausible that is with staffing/schedules. It'd be nice if they could get them in sync somehow.

Interesting stuff. Where did you get those numbers? I have to think our ridership would increase if the train service improved. I would certainly switch from driving to taking the train.

 

[Gotham Gator]

R roxfontaine - I'd love to get Third Rail support to petition MTA for this!

 

[The Toe]

Interesting stuff. Where did you get those numbers? I have to think our ridership would increase if the train service improved. I would certainly switch from driving to taking the train.

My lady used to work for the MNR, so she got an update every game night on the ridership. But you're right on all counts, you'd think they'd make it smooth for folks heading back to the closest hub where the lines converge. We'll have to see how the team's increasing popularity, success and stadium (if in the Bronx) change how it's handled. It's already a pain to go south just to go north again, but I think letting them know about the issues could spark some seemingly simple fixes.

 

[roxfontaine]

I recommend you post it in general supporters group on facebook. Train service could definitely improve but The Toe is probably right.

I'll definitely share it with TR.

 

[413Blue]

Agreed that ridership would increase. I used Metro North (New Haven) once after a game and found it too frustrating and never used it again. If they launched some type of improved game day service, I would give it another try.

 

[gbservis]

I'm in agreement with you that there should be more to fans. Really, it might just be a matter of adjusting trains by 10-15 mins at 125th (if folks on the Harlem/New Haven lines are JUST missing north-bound trains). The fact of the matter is that the MNR count for Yankees was near 4,000-5000 each game with NYCFC drawing only 1,500-ish riders each game (one day, every other week on average) , so you can see why they'd cater towards Yankee fans and not so much NYCFC fans. It'd be great to see trains every 15 mins from Yankees-153rd for the hour after each game, but I'm not sure how plausible that is with staffing/schedules. It'd be nice if they could get them in sync somehow.

The numbers are interesting but it's hard to know if the lower number of riders for nycfc games is because the trains are less convenient or if the actual demand is lower than for Yankees games. It seems like the team would have a vested interest in this as well. I would assume the team has data on where the people purchasing tickets live and could provide metro north with possible demand should they improve service. Might be worth reaching out to the team for support as well.

At the very least an ask to adjust the train schedules seems very reasonable as its way easier to predict the game end time in soccer than baseball.

 

[Buckley]

no problem coming from beacon train stops right there

 

[The Toe]

The numbers are interesting but it's hard to know if the lower number of riders for nycfc games is because the trains are less convenient or if the actual demand is lower than for Yankees games. It seems like the team would have a vested interest in this as well. I would assume the team has data on where the people purchasing tickets live and could provide metro north with possible demand should they improve service. Might be worth reaching out to the team for support as well.

At the very least an ask to adjust the train schedules seems very reasonable as its way easier to predict the game end time in soccer than baseball.

I would imagine because it's mostly people from the city coming to these games. If you're in Brooklyn, why get off at 42nd and hop on the MNR when you have to pay $XXX extra, when you can seamlessly take the 4 and head up that way? Same with Manhattanites, etc. I'd assume that over 75% of NYers have unlimited MetroCards, so it's practically free. If anything, it really is telling about the location demographic of fans, which further supports the "City's Team" mantra. Better to compare would be the parking/MNR ridership numbers. You have to guess that those along the MNR are more likely to drive than those within the 5 boroughs.

 

[Gotham Gator]

I would imagine because it's mostly people from the city coming to these games. If you're in Brooklyn, why get off at 42nd and hop on the MNR when you have to pay $XXX extra, when you can seamlessly take the 4 and head up that way? Same with Manhattanites, etc. I'd assume that over 75% of NYers have unlimited MetroCards, so it's practically free. If anything, it really is telling about the location demographic of fans, which further supports the "City's Team" mantra. Better to compare would be the parking/MNR ridership numbers. You have to guess that those along the MNR are more likely to drive than those within the 5 boroughs.

I generally agree, although I don't know that we have a lower proportion of fans in Metro North territory than the Yankees.

 

[Albany_NYCFC]

Just to throw my .02 in I live in Albany and use the Metro Hudson line. It was about 50-50 last year between driving directly to the Stadium and picking up the Metro line at Poughkeepsie (an hour drive south of Albany). The Hudson line had convenient times getting to the Stadium and had a train leaving 25 minutes after the match and then hourly after that. This was under their "NYCFC Game Day Train" schedule. I realize that we had no connections to worry about, which seems to be different than the issues Gotham Gator has raised.

I would agree that it can't hurt to let MNR know how to better tweek their schedule on game days.

 

[The Toe]

I generally agree, although I don't know that we have a lower proportion of fans in Metro North territory than the Yankees.

It probably comes down to people who drive, but then again, I'd expect that most of the people at Yankee games aren't people with season tickets/only go to one or two games a year, so their numbers are all over the place. It'd be really cool if Cityzens could do a demographic thing for fans, it'd be really cool to see where supporters call home.

 

[Scottie24]

Has anyone taken the train in this year? I'm going to my first game with some friends tonight and we're going back and forth on whether to drive (hate driving to yankee stadium) or take the train (new haven line). Is the shuttle from harlem 125th to the stadium better this year?

 

[Hobo]

Has anyone taken the train in this year? I'm going to my first game with some friends tonight and we're going back and forth on whether to drive (hate driving to yankee stadium) or take the train (new haven line). Is the shuttle from harlem 125th to the stadium better this year?

I've been to every home game using the New Haven line and have had zero problems with the shuttle from 125th to YS.
For the record, I have had problems with the performance on the pitch.