SPECIALS
WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 4/30/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 4/30/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 4/30/19
SPECIALS WITH THIS AD EXPIRES 4/30/19
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 20 PRIL 19-25, 2019 BTR
A train departs from the Fordham train station. Photo by Alex Mitchell
Apartheid ends for Bronxites
at Fordham Metro-North station
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Many Bronxites heading downtown
on Metro-North’s Fordham train
station have watched in bewilderment
as New Haven line trains pull into the
station, unload passengers, and then
shut its doors without taking on any
Bronx passengers that are heading to
Grand Central Station.
That’s because Fordham passengers
were prevented from boarding…
an almost apartheid-like situation that
was allowed to exist for almost a century.
Due to a limited revenue sharing
agreement between the Connecticut
Department of Transportation and
Metro-North, which share the same
track at this point, this outrageous
practice continued, a practice that
forced Bronxites at the Fordham station
to board Harlem line trains only,
into Manhattan.
After an unrelenting campaign by
City Comptroller Scott Stringer and
Senator Gustavo Rivera, that antiquated
policy, which dates back to the
previous operators of Metro-North,
was offi cially halted on Sunday, April
14.
Now, after many, many decades,
Fordham commuters are no longer
treated as second-class citizens, and
can board the Manhattan-bound New
Haven trains.
“The rule about boarding at Fordham
had a long history, but that’s no
reason for us to continue to uphold it,”
said Metro North president Catherine
Rinaldi, who approved the rule change
at Stringer and Rivera’s encouragement
after a discussion with her counterpart,
ConnDOT Commissioner Joseph
Giulietti.
The change means that Fordham
railroad passengers will be able to access
an additional 96 weekday trains
for travel into Manhattan that previously
had been off-limits, more than
doubling the existing service of 93 Harlem
Line trains, according to the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
“It is long overdue and I am proud
to have worked with Senator Gustavo
Rivera to call out this inequity and demand
change,” Stringer said following
the historic Bronx commuter agreement.
On Saturdays, 67 New Haven Line
trains will bolster the existing 83 Harlem
Line trains; as for Sunday service,
the railroad is adding 65 New Haven
Line trains to the existing 63 Harlem
Line trains.
The new rule will also benefi t commuters
during off-peak hours, as service
between Fordham and Manhattan
will operate roughly four times an
hour, practically doubling its previous
rate.
“In fact, it was long past time for this
antiquated and customer-unfriendly
rule to be eliminated,” Rinaldi added.
As a result of this policy change,
revenue from the sale of train tickets
between Fordham and Manhattan,
which previously had gone entirely
to Metro-North, will now be split between
Metro-North and Connecticut,
the MTA confi rmed.
This move also comes after Metro-
North completed a $15 million renhabilitation
of the Fordham station that
doubled the width of the northbound
platform, created a new entrance at
Webster Avenue and East 193rd Street
while also renovating the station
building, added wider stairways and
new entrances to Fordham Plaza, and
installed permanent artwork.
“I hope this long overdue change
will be an initial step in opening up our
commuter rails as we work to increase
transportation options for those New
Yorkers residing in the many transit
deserts across the city, especially in
the Bronx,” Rivera said, commending
Stringer for his involvement in the initiative.
The previous practice did not impact
north-bound passengers boarding
at the Fordham station.