NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has reluctantly approved a 10% fare increase for Metro-North Railroad trips beginning or ending in Connecticut — an increase requested by that state’s Department of Transportation to address an $11 million shortfall in the budget passed in June.
The same increase — 5% effective Sept. 1, 2025, and another 5% on July 1, 2026 — has also been enacted by Connecticut for its CTRail Hartford Line and Shore Line East services.
“These fare increases will help maintain existing rail service levels by keeping the same number of trains on the schedule for our customers,” Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in a press release. Bloomberg reports the increase will bring in $1.4 million this, year, $16.1 million in 2026, and $20.5 million in 2027.
While Connecticut officials have authority over Metro-North fares in that state, the request still had to be approved by the MTA board. Board members were clear — both in a meeting earlier this week and today (Wednesday, July 30) — that they did so only because they felt they had no choice.
“I do not like the size of it,” board member Neal Zuckerman, according to WPIX-TV. “The MTA is often an affordability solution. I don’t think this is an affordability solution.” At a committee meeting on Monday, board member David Mack called the increase “scary.”
MTA officials also said at today’s board meeting that the basic New York City Transit subway and bus fare is expected to increase from $2.90 to $3 in January 2026, the news site Gothamist reports. That move still has to be approved by the board. Also, the 30-day unlimited fare option will be eliminated, leaving only seven-day fare caps as a way to get unlimited rides.
Good news for already overburdened Connecticut taxpayers.