Metro-North Railroad’s

Environmental Compliance and Services Department

The Department of Environmental Compliance and Services is charged with ensuring that Metro-North’s operations, facilities and capital projects meet the applicable Federal and State rules and regulations for environmental, historic and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and with identifying ways in which Metro-North can be more Sustainable..

The Department’s ongoing compliance efforts include:

Environmental Compliance

  • Negotiation and development of agreements with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and other regulatory enforcement agencies;
  • Management of environmental site assessments and identification of required environmental remediation, including response to all petroleum and other spills of regulated substances and wastes;
  • Management of environmental remediation studies, development of corrective action plans, and monitoring of remedial activities;
  • Evaluation of Metro-North projects to ascertain requirements for compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and/or State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and assistance in preparation of required documents; and,
  • Identification of and procurement of environmental permits required in support of Metro-North projects and operations. This includes permits from NYSDEC, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), and the Department of State, as well as consultation with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection concerning projects in the NYC Watershed.
  • Assuring Metro-North’s compliance with environmental regulations concerning waste generation and management, ongoing operations and construction activities.
  • Monitoring of oil water separators and sanitary waste systems to insure compliance with discharge permit limits.
  • Management of regulated wastes generated by Metro-North
  • Facilitation of Hudson River Access improvements/projects
  • Wetlands identification and mitigation efforts

Environmental Compliance & Services (continued)

Historic Preservation

The Department of Environmental Compliance and Services evaluates Metro-North projects to determine the impacts on historically significant structures, both the structure(s) being directly impacted and any historic structures in the area surrounding the project site(s). As required by the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the National Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), Metro-North projects are designed to minimize the impacts upon historic resources. Generally, projects involving existing historic structures attempt to retain as much of the original design as possible.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance

Key Station Plan

In an effort to make Metro-North more accessible to people with disabilities, a key station plan targeting 13 stations within New York State was developed. The key stations were selected through a planning process involving public participation and criteria which focused on ridership, intermodal connections, transfer points, activity centers and terminal stations. CDOT is responsible for ADA compliance, and has developed a separate key station plan, for the Connecticut stations served by Metro-North.

All key and new stations have the following accessible features:

  • Accessible routes to public areas of the station, including to train platforms via ramps and/or elevators;
  • Tactile warning strips along platform edges and cane detection, where required;
  • Audio-visual information systems (AVIS), or equivalent;
  • Signage meeting ADA requirements, including raised lettering and Braille;
  • Accessible public pay telephones equipped with volume control;
  • At many stations where station buildings exist, Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD), accessible ticket windows and accessible restrooms are also available.

All 13 Key Stations have been made fully ADA accessible.

FTA Compliance Assessments & Ongoing Maintenance Efforts

  • Working with Metro-North, FTA conducts ADA compliance reviews at key stations;
  • Metro-North has implemented corrective actions in a timely manner making best efforts to meet all commitments to FTA;
  • Through internal reviews, Metro-North has an ongoing effort to identify and correct maintenance issues at key stations to ensure continued compliance.

Key Stations

Designated key stations within New York State include[1]:

125th Street
Brewster / Grand Central Terminal / RyeTarrytown
Croton-Harmon / New Rochelle / White Plains
Fordham / Poughkeepsie / Yonkers
Harriman / Nanuet

Other Stations Providing ADA Access

In addition to our key stations, the following NYS stations, also meet ADA accessibility criteria.

Ardsley-on-Hudson
Botanical Garden / Hastings-on-Hudson
HV-Wingdale / Pawling
Riverdale
Cortlandt
Dobbs Ferry / Larchmont
Morris Heights / Scarborough
Ten Mile River
Dover Plains
Glenwood
Greystone / Mount Vernon East
Ossining
Patterson / University Heights
Wassaic
Yankees –E 153rd Street

Stations Providing Wheelchair Access

In addition to the above accessible stations, the following stations provide wheelchair access to our station platforms, via ramps and/or elevators. It is important to note that some ramps predate the ADA and slopes may not fully comply with current requirements.

Beacon
Bedford Hills / Garrison
Golden's Bridge / North White Plains
Peekskill
Campbell Hall
Chappaqua / Harrison
Hawthorne / Pleasantville
Purdys
Cold Spring
Crestwood / Katonah
Mt. Kisco / Salisbury Mills/Cornwall
Spring Valley
Croton Falls
Fleetwood / Middletown
Mount Vernon West / Southeast
Valhalla

Accessibility features such as tactile warning strips and/or tactile signage are present at some of the above wheelchair accessible stations and also at other stations where capital projects have been recently completed.

Sustainability

As part of Metro-North's Vision 2013 Goal -- “Demonstrate Commitment to Incorporating Sustainability" several members of the Environmental Compliance and Services Department and the Capital Department Assistant Director, Sustainability and Environment, are charged with identifying and progressing initiatives in the areas of Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation and Waste Reduction. This group reports on its projects on a regular basis, and seeks ways in which to communicate its accomplishments and encourage environmental stewardship, including regular articles in the employee publications Weekly News and On-Track. Included in the Sustainability Initiatives now underway are a number of projects being undertaken in partnership with the New York Power Authority that will result in significant energy savings at various rail yards and Grand Central Terminal.

[1]CDOT is responsible for the implementation of ADA improvements at CT. Key stations within CT include: Greenwich, Stamford, Darien, South Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Bridgeport, New Haven, New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury.