Fordham (Metro-North station)

Fordham
The station building in 2013.
Location	417 East Fordham Road (190th Street) Fordham, Bronx, New York 10458
Coordinates
Owned by	Metro-North Railroad
Line(s)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	NYCT Bus, MTA Bus and Bee-Line Bus (see Fordham Plaza Bus Terminal below)
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	2
Electrified	700V (DC) third rail
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station Tremont toward Grand Central Harlem Line Botanical Garden toward Wassaic   Limited   Harlem – 125th Street toward Grand Central New Haven Line Mount Vernon East toward New Haven – State Street   Former services   New York Central Railroad 183rd Street toward New York City Harlem Division Botanical Garden toward Chatham

The Fordham (also known as Fordham – East 190th Street) Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx, New York via the Harlem Line and New Haven Line. It is 8.9 miles (14.3 km) from Grand Central Terminal. The platforms are situated just below street level and feature two expanded side platforms that serve eight cars each, on the outer tracks. The station building sits above the tracks on the Fordham Road (East 190th Street) overpass, and still bears the name New York Central Railroad on its facade. This station is among the busiest in the Metro-North system.

Service

Most service is provided to Grand Central Terminal by local Harlem Line trains from and to North White Plains. These trains run at least approximately every half-hour on weekdays and Saturdays, and hourly on Sundays. However, during the reverse peak (outbound from GCT mornings and inbound evenings) through trains to and from Southeast also serve this station. On early weekend mornings and late evenings, a few local trains direct to/from Southeast stop here as well.

The station is partially used by many off-peak New Haven Line trains coming to/from Stamford, and some peak trains. It is the only station in the Bronx that New Haven Line trains serve daily (New Haven Line trains do serve Yankee Stadium directly around the Mott Haven wye for some games). Grand Central-bound trains may stop at Fordham to discharge passengers; Stamford-bound trains may stop at Fordham to receive passengers. Travelers to/from Grand Central are required to take the Harlem Line instead. This is due to Metro-North's operating agreement with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

Neighborhood

This station is adjacent to the western end of the Rose Hill campus of Fordham University. It is part of the Fordham Plaza complex which is served by several Bronx and Westchester bus routes. The area is a commercial hub with many shops, especially along Fordham Road going west (known as "Fordham Center"). One Fordham Plaza, an office building with several shops, is located on the southeast corner of Fordham Road and Third Avenue, across from the bus terminal.

This station is located in Zone 2.

History

The New York and Harlem Railroad laid tracks through Fordham as far back as 1842, and a station is known to have existed shortly afterwards. The New York and Harlem was bought by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in 1864. A March 17, 1848 agreement gave the New York and New Haven Railroad trackage rights over the NY&H from Williamsbridge south into New York City. NY&NH was merged with the Hartford and New Haven Railroad to form the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1872, and the trackage rights along the Harlem Division remained intact. This aspect of the line would prove to be of little importance to the station until the next century. Throughout the late-19th Century, the Harlem Division was widened and rebuilt into an open cut line as part of a grade elimination project, and Fordham Station would be one of nearly several in the Bronx that would be rebuilt as a station house on a bridge over all four tracks, much like Melrose, the former Morrisania and Tremont stations, among others.

Two major milestones of the early 20th Century brought an increase in ridership to the station. Interborough Rapid Transit extended the Third Avenue Elevated Line near Fordham Station, bringing a rapid transit connection on July 1, 1901. Pelham Avenue station was the northern terminus of the line until it was extended to Bronx Park Terminal over ten months later. Due to the popularity of football games between the Fordham Rams and Yale Bulldogs in the 1920s, joint service between the New York Central Railroad and New York, New Haven and Hartford was moved from Woodlawn station to Fordham, where it has remained to this day.

As with many NYCRR stations in the Bronx, the station became a Penn Central station once the NYC & Pennsylvania Railroads merged in 1968. Penn Central acquired the New Haven Railroad in 1969, thus transforming the station into a full Penn Central station. However the railroad's continuous financial despair throughout the 1970s forced them to turn over their commuter service to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. To make matters worse, the connection to the Fordham Road – 190th Street station as well as the rest of the IRT Third Avenue Line was eliminated in 1973, although the station still had a major mass transit connection in the form of Fordham Plaza. The station and the railroad were turned over to Conrail in 1976, and eventually became part of the MTA's Metro-North Railroad in 1983. Metro-North extended the platforms to handle longer trains in the 1990s, and removed the luncheonette and other local businesses that operated from the station.

Platform and track configuration

3	■ Harlem Line	for Grand Central
	■ New Haven Line	for Grand Central
1	■ New Haven Line	no stop
2	■ New Haven Line	no stop
4	■ Harlem Line	for Southeast, Wassaic
	■ New Haven Line	for New Haven – State Street

This station has two high-level side platforms each eight cars long. Both are accessible via stairways from the station building and from Fordham Plaza.

The western platform, adjacent to Track 4, is generally used by southbound trains. The eastern platform, adjacent to Track 3, is generally used by northbound trains.

Metro-North has four tracks at this location. The two inner tracks not adjacent to either platform are used only by express trains.

Fordham Plaza Bus Terminal

See also: List of bus routes in the Bronx and List of bus routes in Westchester County, New York

The nearby Fordham Bus Plaza at Fordham Metro-North station in 2011.

The following bus routes serve the Fordham Plaza area; the Bx1, Bx2, and Bx34 local buses and the BxM4 express bus stop on or near Grand Concourse several blocks west.

Route	Stop location	Terminal1	Terminal2	via	notes
NYCT Bus
Bx1 Bx1 LTD	Grand Concourse and Fordham Road	Mott Haven	Riverdale	3rd Avenue, 138th Street, Grand Concourse, Mosholu Parkway, Sedgwick Avenue, 231st Street
Bx2		Mott Haven	Kingsbridge Heights	3rd Avenue, 149th Street, Grand Concourse, Mosholu Parkway, Sedgwick Avenue
Bx9	Fordham Road and Third Avenue	Riverdale	West Farms	Broadway, Kingsbridge Road, Fordham Road, Southern Boulevard	Originally the Bronx and Van Cortlandt Parks Crosstown Line streetcars until January 24, 1948.
Bx12		University Heights	Pelham Bay or Orchard Beach	Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway	Late nights, operates entire route between Inwood and Co-op City Summers, operates to Orchard Beach
Bx12 SBS		Inwood	Co-Op City	207th Street, Fordham Road, Pelham Parkway	The first Select Bus Service line in New York City; Originally the 207th Street Crosstown Line trolley. Late nights, replaced by Bx12 local.
Bx15 Bx15 LTD	Fordham Plaza Bus Loop	to The Hub or Manhattanville		125th Street, Willis Avenue, Third Avenue	Originally the Harlem Shuttle and Willis Avenue Line streetcars until on August 5, 1941. Rush-hour limited service began in 2013. Replaced Bx55 (which replaced the IRT Third Avenue Line in 1973) south of Fordham Plaza. Rush hours, local service terminates at The Hub − 149th Street.
Bx17	Fordham Plaza (on Third Avenue)	to Port Morris/Mott Haven		St. Ann's Avenue, Prospect Avenue, Crotona Avenue
Bx22	Fordham Road and Third Avenue	Castle Hill	Bedford Park	Castle Hill Avenue, Unionport Road, White Plains Road, Fordham Road, Kingsbridge Road, Goulden Avenue	Midday and late evening service terminates at Valentine Avenue near the Fordham Road Subway station.
Bx34	Valentine or Bainbridge Avenues and Fordham Road	Valentine Avenue and Fordham Road	Woodlawn	Bainbridge Avenue, East 233rd Street
Bx41	Webster Avenue and Fordham Road	The Hub	Williamsbridge	Melrose Avenue, Webster Avenue	Originally the Webster and White Plains Avenues Line streetcars until June 26, 1948.
Bx41 SBS		The Hub	Williamsbridge	Melrose Avenue, Webster Avenue	Began 2013. Replaced Bx55 (which replaced the IRT Third Avenue Line in 1973) north of Fordham Plaza.
MTA Bus
BxM4	Grand Concourse and Fordham Road	Midtown Manhattan	Woodlawn	5th & Madison Avenues, Grand Concourse, Bainbridge Avenue, Katonah Avenue	Former Liberty Lines Express bus.
Bee-Line Bus
60	East 189th Street and Third Avenue (southbound) or Fordham Road and Third Avenue (northbound)	White Plains TransCenter		Boston Post Road, Palmer Avenue, Mamaroneck Avenue
61		Port Chester		Boston Post Road, Fifth Avenue, Halstead Avenue	U-Turns at NY-CT line
62	Fordham Road and Third Avenue	Fordham Road Subway station (at Valentine Avenue)	White Plains TransCenter	Boston Post Road, New England Thruway, Westchester Avenue	Express to White Plains

External links

• Metro-North Railroad - Fordham
• Upcoming train departure times and track assignments from MTA
• Station House from Google Maps Street View