[9] It is the second busiest commuter railroad in North America in terms of annual ridership, behind the Long Island Rail Road and ahead of NJ Transit (both of which also serve New York City).

The Hudson Line is part of the Empire Corridor, and the Yonkers, Croton-Harmon, and Poughkeepsie stations are all served by Amtrak as well as Metro-North.

Metro-North provides service west of the Hudson River on trains from Hoboken Terminal, New Jersey, jointly run with NJ Transit under contract.

Most stops for the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley Lines are in New Jersey, so NJ Transit provides most of the rolling stock and all the staff; Metro-North supplies some equipment.

The section between Grand Central and Peekskill, New York, the northernmost station in Westchester County, became known as the NYC's Hudson Division, with frequent commuter service in and out of Manhattan.

The other major commuter line was the Putnam Division running from 155th Street in upper Manhattan (later from Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx) to Brewster, New York.

[20] Commuter services west of the Hudson River, today's Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines, were initially part of the Erie Railroad.

[26] In 1968, following the Erie Lackawanna's example, the NYC and its rival the Pennsylvania Railroad formed Penn Central Transportation with the hope of revitalizing their fortunes.

[35] In 1976, Congress awarded the MTA "temporary" funding so the LIRR and Penn Central commuter routes could be handed over to local private operators.

Even with state subsidies, the federal government did not want Conrail to take on the operating costs of the commuter lines, which it was relieved from by the Northeast Rail Service Act of 1981.

[37] Over the next few years commuter lines under the control of Conrail were gradually taken over by state agencies such as the newly formed NJ Transit in New Jersey, the established SEPTA in southeastern Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Boston.

[38] The MTA and ConnDOT officially took control of the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines on January 1, 1983 and merged them into the Metro-North Commuter Railroad.

The chairman of the MTA's finance committee, Stephen Berger, feared that Metro-North would lose 5% of its pre-strike ridership of 90,000–costing the railroad $1.3 million.

[44] Richard Ravitch, the MTA Chairman, asked President Reagan to seek legislation to place the dispute under the law of New York State.

[45] Reagan had turned down a request by Governor Mario Cuomo to intervene, but indicated that he would listen if a congressionally approved proposal was issued.

In October 1998, the New York State Department of Transportation announced that the Newburgh–Beacon Shuttle would be developed in conjunction with Metro-North, running from the Beacon station on the Hudson Line to the Newburgh park-and-ride on Route 17K.

All rolling stock is equipped with Automatic Train Control (ATC), which enforces the speed dictated by the cab signal by a penalty brake application should the engineer fail to obey it.

[59] Note that peak fares do not apply to travel to Manhattan on trains that arrive in Grand Central during the afternoon/evening rush hour.

[60][61] As part of the implementation of OMNY, the MTA also plans to use the system in the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.

[62] In 2003, the LIRR and Metro-North started a pilot program in which passengers traveling within New York City were allowed to buy one-way tickets for $2.50.

[70] As part of a one-year pilot program starting in July 2024, monthly tickets for Metro-North trips entirely within New York City would also receive a 10% discount.

Northward expansion took place most recently when it was extended from Dover Plains to Wassaic in 2000, requiring a costly rebuilding of tracks that had been abandoned years before.

Going further north would require substantial investment to rebuild tracks, grade crossings, stations and other facilities that were removed long ago, and obtaining eminent domain for the train property used by the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

In 2014, Metro-North officials announced that they would be installing security cameras at all stations on the Harlem and New Haven Lines in order to address public safety concerns.

These concerns arose from an incident on September 29, 2013, where the body of 17-year-old Mount Saint Michael Academy student Matthew Wallace was found on the tracks of the Wakefield station.

[81] CTDOT is also moving forward on a study to increase freight service on the New Haven Line in an effort to reduce the number of trucks on the congested Connecticut Turnpike.

[citation needed] In 2014, Metro-North officials announced that they would be installing security cameras at all stations on the Harlem and New Haven Lines in order to address public safety concerns.

In addition, Metro-North also connects 5,000 Bronx residents to suburban jobs, making it the largest rail reverse-commute market in the United States.

[88] On October 28, 2015, the MTA Board of Directors approved a 2015–2019 Capital Program which included $695 million in planned spending for the Penn Station Access project.

[89] Upon completion of the Environmental Review process, Metro-North will design and implement the track and structural work needed to operate on the Hell Gate Bridge and its approaches in the Bronx and Queens; communications and signals work; power improvements, including third rail, power substations, and catenary; construction of the four stations in the Bronx; and rolling stock specification development for the fleet needed to operate the service.