Largest Commuter Agency

What are the largest commuter agencies in the US? Give me answers in ridership, trains, and system size. I know LIRR, Metro-North, NJT, and Metra are all up there. But i don't know about others.

Hi,

With the advent of really high prices for fuel, you might want to take a close look at Metrolink on the West Coast. It has gone through a hugh increase in ridership in Southern California for the commuters. I used to be able to count on a window seat, but not any longer. Additionally, they have added lines and increased the number of trains per day.

I think the top 3 in ridership as of the late 90s were LIRR, Metra, and Metro-North in that order, and I don't think they ordering has changed since then.

I am all but sure that the LIRR wins in terms of total trains and ridership and relaitvely certain that they also have the largest system. I believe Metra is a close second on all those fronts.

pennsy wrote:Hi,

With the advent of really high prices for fuel, you might want to take a close look at Metrolink on the West Coast. It has gone through a hugh increase in ridership in Southern California for the commuters. I used to be able to count on a window seat, but not any longer. Additionally, they have added lines and increased the number of trains per day.

GOOD!

The figures for the New York area are understated in a way. Chicago has a united system. New York's commuter rail is divided based on heritage into three agencies. The NYC and NH lines are in Metro-North. Most of the PRR lines are in LIRR. The PRR line to Trenton as well as the EL and CNJ lines are NJT. United, by far, New York would have the largest commuter rail system in all three aspects. LIRR is the largest on its own anyway, and MN and NJT are both in the top 5.

I'm also wondering what the smallest commuter agency in North America is. I know ACE, Sounder, and TRE are all very small. Which one is the smallest operation?

I'd wager that the Music City Star operation, when it starts up, will be the smallest. They only have three locomotives on their roster, and if you consider that one is going to be standing by at all times as a redundancy measure, it's a pretty small.

Chicago has a united system

No they don't. NICTD operates the South Shore Line to South Bend IN, which shares tracks with the Metra Electric (former Illinois Central). The Metra commuter operations are split between several railroads (BNSF, UP, NIRC). Don't forget about Amtrak's LD and Hiawatha operations out of Chicago, which are quite extensive. Further, they still operate out of four separate terminals (Union Station, CNW/Ogilvie Terminal, LaSalle Street, Randolph Street). The heritages of these commuter operations are quite distinct (Rock Island, ATSF, CNW, Milwaukee Road, Illinois Central, South Shore Line, CB&Q, NP, and so on).

Most of the PRR lines are in LIRR

Eh? The PRR once owned the LIRR, indeed; but the LIRR does not operate over any of the PRR's main line. The LIRR is actually the oldest passenger railroad operation in the USA still operating under its original name.

I'm also wondering what the smallest commuter agency in North America is. I know ACE, Sounder, and TRE are all very small. Which one is the smallest operation?

Probably OnTrak in Syracuse NY, operated by the NYSW using their RDCs. (You said "North America", which will include Canada; but I'm certain that OnTrak is as small as you can get.)

I would second the Syracuse agency as the smallest. The LIRR runs more trains in an hour during the rush than OnTrak runs in a week (or very close to that figure!).

Lirr168 wrote:I am all but sure that the LIRR wins in terms of total trains and ridership and relaitvely certain that they also have the largest system. I believe Metra is a close second on all those fronts.

Based on 2005 figures, LIRR is still the king in terms of ridership and number of trains, however Metra is the largest commuter agency in terms of system area, with 11 routes totaling about 500 miles systemwide...

M&Eman wrote:I'm also wondering what the smallest commuter agency in North America is. I know ACE, Sounder, and TRE are all very small. Which one is the smallest operation?

Wasn't there a commuter operation running along Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT not that long ago? It ran maybe 2 or 3 round-trips/day I think there was one locomotive and a small number of passenger cars. I don't know if it's still running or if it's folded yet.

The Champlain flyer went bust a few years back, the smallest commuter rail in USA is probably"On Track" in syracuse NY.

byte wrote:I think the top 3 in ridership as of the late 90s were LIRR, Metra, and Metro-North in that order, and I don't think they ordering has changed since then.

This link has ridership stats for most of the commuter rail services in the US.

http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ride ... 06q3cr.pdf

Looking at the 9-months of data included, LIRR is far out in front. There is a close pack for 2-3-4 with Metro North, Metra and NJT.

see "Sunset on the Champlain Flyer/Railpace/May 2003" for info on the Champlain Flyer.

Syracuse OnTrack may be smallest commuter rail operation (it's not part of Syracuse's CENTRO agency, but privately operated by NYSW), but are we talking about smallest operation, or largest funded agency?

If we're talking about largest agency, that would be New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They operate the NYC Subway, Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, and Staten Island Railway. Throw in the surface operations (non-rail), and you have the largest transit operator.

If you're talking about largest commuter railroad in terms of miles, I'm not sure, but I know for years LIRR was the nations busiest passenger carrier- higher counts than Amtrak. NJT might be edging out LIRR for busiest, but I don't have stats to prove my point either way.

-otto-