"The MTA would have to spend at least $3 million in contracted union fees to provide the same special game-day service to Citi Field as Metro-North gives Yankee fans to go to the House that Ruth Built, data obtained by Streetsblog shows. It's all due to contracts that gives drivers and conductors a full day's extra pay if they are assigned to "special" game day trains to Citi Field, even if no overtime is required because the conductor is still in the middle of a normal eight-hour shift."
"The difference is in the labor agreements. Metro-North's union contracts do not have a similar double-pay requirement for special trains. That double-pay rule costs the MTA roughly $2,100-$2,400 for each extra train scheduled during the Ryder Cup this past September, sources said. That small per-train cost would quickly add up to $3.4 million over a baseball season."
The LIRR provided far fewer special game-day trains to Citi Field than Metro-North provided to Yankee Stadium during the 2025 regular season. Metro-North ran 1,431 special trains, about 18 extra trains per game, while the LIRR ran only 112 extra trains, fewer than one per game per direction. LIRR labor contracts pay drivers and conductors a full extra day's pay for assignment to "special" trains even without overtime, creating large per-train costs. Those per-train costs ran about $2,100–$2,400 during the Ryder Cup and would total roughly $3.4 million over a baseball season. Contract talks and union work rules are central to the service disparity.
Read at Streetsblog
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