MTA Introduces LIRR/MNR Combo Ticket

[IAlam]

https://new.mta.info/fares/combo-ticket
 

Quote

With the opening of Grand Central Madison, direct transfers between Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad trains are now possible. To make those connections easier, we're introducing a new ticket: the Combo Ticket. 

The Combo Ticket makes traveling between LIRR and Metro-North stations easier, cheaper, and more accessible. You can start a trip on one railroad and transfer to the other railroad at Grand Central for a flat $8 fee. From there, you can travel anywhere in that system.

How it works: If you plan a trip that starts on Metro-North in Beacon and ends on LIRR in Long Beach, you’ll pay the off-peak fare for the first leg of the trip — Beacon to Grand Central — plus an additional $8 for the rest of your trip to Long Beach. The farther you travel, the more you’ll save.  

The Combo Ticket will be available beginning February 27, when full LIRR service to Grand Central begins. You can buy it at a ticket office, from a ticket vending machine, or in the TrainTime app on your mobile device. 

Combo Ticket pricing and validity

A one-way Combo Ticket costs $8 more than an adult off-peak ticket from your origin station to Grand Central. 

You can use it to travel to Grand Central and then ride any train to any station on the other railroad. It’s valid on both peak and off-peak trains. 

You must complete your entire trip, including both parts of a round trip, by 4 a.m. on the day after you purchase it.  

Round-trip tickets cost twice as much as a one-way Combo Ticket. 

How to buy a Combo Ticket

If you use a ticket vending machine, the Combo Ticket will show up as a separate ticket type. You will enter your origin station and choose Grand Central as your destination. Be sure to take your ticket with you when you leave your origin train — you’ll need to show it to the conductor on your next train. Please note that you can only buy a Combo Ticket that begins on Metro-North at Metro-North stations, and at LIRR stations for trips that begin on LIRR.  

In the TrainTime app, you can buy tickets in two ways: under the “Tickets” tab, or after you’ve planned a trip. 

In the Tickets tab, enter an origin station on either LIRR or Metro-North, and a destination station on the other railroad. If the Combo Ticket is available for your trip, you will see the option to purchase it.

In the Trips tab, plan a trip with an origin station on either LIRR or Metro-North, and a destination station on the other railroad. Select which trains you would like to take. Once you’re taken to the “Trip Details” screen, you’ll see a “Buy” button; if the Combo Ticket is the best deal for your trip, you will see the option to purchase it. 

Tips for using Combo Ticket

Combo Tickets cannot be purchased in Manhattan. They also cannot be bought onboard trains. 

Combo Ticket is not valid to or from Metro-North stations west of the Hudson River. 

If your destination is within New York City, consider buying a CityTicket for $5 to travel from Grand Central to your destination. Each CityTicket is good for one-way travel during off-peak hours that begins and ends within New York City. You can buy a CityTicket at a ticket office, a ticket machine, or in the TrainTime app. 

 

[IAlam]

So it doesn't seem like tickets are available on train time yet, but I'm definitely curious 

4 minutes ago, IAlam said:

https://new.mta.info/fares/combo-ticket
 

Round-trip tickets cost twice as much as a one-way Combo Ticket. 

Please note that you can only buy a Combo Ticket that begins on Metro-North at Metro-North stations, and at LIRR stations for trips that begin on LIRR.  

The way it's worded, it would be more beneficial to buy RT from a cheaper zone and go to a more expensive zone.

ie. Great Neck to New Haven would $17.25 each way but New Haven to Great Neck $25.75 each way. 
(oddly that's the same cost from GCT)

In that case, if you're starting from New Haven it'd be cheaper to buy a paper RT from Great Neck (I'm not sure how the app would allow you to reverse the order.)
 

[N6 Limited]

Train time tells you if a combo ticket is a cheaper option for your trip, so that’s helpful.

16 hours ago, IAlam said:

The way it's worded, it would be more beneficial to buy RT from a cheaper zone and go to a more expensive zone.

ie. Great Neck to New Haven would $17.25 each way but New Haven to Great Neck $25.75 each way. 
(oddly that's the same cost from GCT)

In that case, if you're starting from New Haven it'd be cheaper to buy a paper RT from Great Neck (I'm not sure how the app would allow you to reverse the order.)

From how it’s worded, the combo ticket won’t list destination stations. It will have something like “Origin Station to Grand Central + Combo”. This way they don’t have to program a bunch of station pairs.

I see potential barriers to always getting the cheaper ticket.

1) Origin station can only be purchased from the origin RR. 

2) Round trips may be printed on the same ticket/eticket, so if you try to do Great Neck to New Haven from New Haven, you won’t be able to purchase from a Metro North TVM. On TrainTime, the origin station will be LIRR Great Neck, so the MNRR Conductor / Ticket Scanner probably wouldn’t accept a one way ticket.  As for Round Trip Tickets, Combo Tickets must be used in the same day like City Tickets, so a Round Trip would be wasteful if you could only utilize a one way trip out of it.

How do Round Trips work on Train Time? Does it give you two separate tickets to activate? Or does it have you activate the same ticket twice?

[danielhg121]

55 minutes ago, N6 Limited said:

How do Round Trips work on Train Time? Does it give you two separate tickets to activate? Or does it have you activate the same ticket twice?

It's programmed as two separate one-way trips which is the equivalent of if they sold you the same ticket twice. It is two separate tickets to activate. Since you can use them both ways, a Stony Brook to Jamaica ticket is the same thing both ways or you could use them to go Stony to Jamaica twice. Conductor pretty much only cares that you're riding between those two stations. You could use them on another line within the fare zones but you may get questioned if you're lost by the conductor but they'll still accept it lol.

Edited February 23, 2023 by danielhg121

[IAlam]

We can

6 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

Train time tells you if a combo ticket is a cheaper option for your trip, so that’s helpful.

From how it’s worded, the combo ticket won’t list destination stations. It will have something like “Origin Station to Grand Central + Combo”. This way they don’t have to program a bunch of station pairs.

It seems you can't buy it yet, so I \was unsure. 

6 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

I see potential barriers to always getting the cheaper ticket.

1) Origin station can only be purchased from the origin RR. 

2) Round trips may be printed on the same ticket/eticket, so if you try to do Great Neck to New Haven from New Haven, you won’t be able to purchase from a Metro North TVM. On TrainTime, the origin station will be LIRR Great Neck, so the MNRR Conductor / Ticket Scanner probably wouldn’t accept a one way ticket.  As for Round Trip Tickets, Combo Tickets must be used in the same day like City Tickets, so a Round Trip would be wasteful if you could only utilize a one way trip out of it.

The way around it would always be to be buying it for the next trip, not the current one, that way you can use it on your return and then the following trip to the destination. 

5 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

It's programmed as two separate one-way trips which is the equivalent of if they sold you the same ticket twice. It is two separate tickets to activate. Since you can use them both ways, a Stony Brook to Jamaica ticket is the same thing both ways or you could use them to go Stony to Jamaica twice. Conductor pretty much only cares that you're riding between those two stations. You could use them on another line within the fare zones but you may get questioned if you're lost by the conductor but they'll still accept it lol.

If it's 2 one way tickets that could be another way around it, do they have to be activated in order?

[danielhg121]

5 minutes ago, IAlam said:If it's 2 one way tickets that could be another way around it, do they have to be activated in order?

Doubt it. Don’t see why they would restrict you on activating it in order. It appears You do have to use them on the same day tho.

[IAlam]

Combo Tickets are live and kind of how I expected there is a price disparity between the direction you travel. But also it's now cheaper to start at a city zone and then transfer to the other railroad for longer trips.


But oddly they use location to enforce what ticket you can and cannot buy. I was wondering why they have updated their privacy policy lately. 



The $10 difference between which direction you go is huge. 

Also, I do not see the RT combo ticket online.

[IAlam]

So they changed the wording on the app to

Quote

You can save money by buying two One Way Combo tickets from [station] to [station]. These tickets will work in both directions.

[N6 Limited]

I checked the options on the TVM. When you select “Combo Ticket” you can only select  “one way”, no round trip option. You choose your Origin Station, and then you’re only allowed to select Grand Central as a Destination. Then it asks how many you want.

So, if your initial trip is cheaper, buy two tickets. If not, Buy a one way from each railroad. 

I didn’t purchase one since they have to be used the same day, so I don’t know how they look.

[IAlam]

On 2/28/2023 at 6:59 PM, N6 Limited said:

I checked the options on the TVM. When you select “Combo Ticket” you can only select  “one way”, no round trip option. You choose your Origin Station, and then you’re only allowed to select Grand Central as a Destination. Then it asks how many you want.

So, if your initial trip is cheaper, buy two tickets. If not, Buy a one way from each railroad. 

I didn’t purchase one since they have to be used the same day, so I don’t know how they look.

I'm going to make a trip tomorrow but the conductor did confirm with me to buy 2 especially if it's cheaper at your origin. They should be accepted both ways.

[IAlam]

On 3/2/2023 at 6:06 PM, IAlam said:

I'm going to make a trip tomorrow but the conductor did confirm with me to buy 2 especially if it's cheaper at your origin. They should be accepted both ways.

I didn't have an issue with conductors going either way but my eTix expired after 3 hours on my way back even though the trip planner put the trip as longer than 3 hours. It expired right as I was leaving GCM 😎.

[danielhg121]

7 hours ago, IAlam said:

I didn't have an issue with conductors going either way but my eTix expired after 3 hours on my way back even though the trip planner put the trip as longer than 3 hours. It expired right as I was leaving GCM 😎.

That’s awful coding honestly. And you probably would’ve ran into some trouble with the other conductor had they been a little late with checking tickets.

[IAlam]

13 hours ago, danielhg121 said:

That’s awful coding honestly. And you probably would’ve ran into some trouble with the other conductor had they been a little late with checking tickets.

The conductor came after and I just showed him my itinerary and the time it was activated and he was like ok. 

[Mtatransit]

Update on the paper combo ticket version.

It will only display Origin station to Grand Central, then in fine print mention "Valid for one ride on all train within zone indicated with transfer to Metro North"

I bought mines at Woodside, and the ticket said Woodside to Penn Station?? 

Gotta say the MNR conductor didn't know what to make out of it but accepted it. I guess not many people uses combo tickets yet

Edited March 5, 2023 by Mtatransit

[Lawrence St]

On 3/5/2023 at 3:40 AM, Mtatransit said:

Update on the paper combo ticket version.

It will only display Origin station to Grand Central, then in fine print mention "Valid for one ride on all train within zone indicated with transfer to Metro North"

I bought mines at Woodside, and the ticket said Woodside to Penn Station?? 

Gotta say the MNR conductor didn't know what to make out of it but accepted it. I guess not many people uses combo tickets yet

From my experience, the mobile tickets & paper tickets will display the stations ONLY within the railroad your originating out of. meaning if you have a Belmont Park - GCM combo ticket, you need to show the ticket to the MNR conductor and tell them where your going. Although I personally feel like the paper tickets are a headache...

[QM1to6Ave]

I'll be curious to see stats on how many combo tickets are sold in a year or so. I'm still not convinced there is much of a market for it, unless the MTA really advertises it well to convince people to take special trips this way. I can't see many people using it for Mon-Fri workweek travel to and from their jobs.

[Mtatransit]

2 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

I'll be curious to see stats on how many combo tickets are sold in a year or so. I'm still not convinced there is much of a market for it, unless the MTA really advertises it well to convince people to take special trips this way. I can't see many people using it for Mon-Fri workweek travel to and from their jobs.

It works for me because I no longer need to take the subway into Manhattan and take Metro North. I get a faster trip as well as a cheaper fare if I am going far.

I wish City Ticket allowed a transfer at Grand Central. Queens - Bronx really need better transit. LIRR - MNR if the schedules time up, at least will provide a faster trip

[QM1to6Ave]

8 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

It works for me because I no longer need to take the subway into Manhattan and take Metro North. I get a faster trip as well as a cheaper fare if I am going far.

I wish City Ticket allowed a transfer at Grand Central. Queens - Bronx really need better transit. LIRR - MNR if the schedules time up, at least will provide a faster trip

Yup, I was thinking to addend my post that the people who benefit most are already inside the city zone and want a better way into Manhattan to catch MNRR or LIRR

Do you find that LIRR is frequent enough to match your schedule? That's always been the issue for me (and also the time it would take me to get to an LIRR station in Queens)

[IAlam]

On 6/10/2023 at 12:50 PM, Lawrence St said:

From my experience, the mobile tickets & paper tickets will display the stations ONLY within the railroad your originating out of. meaning if you have a Belmont Park - GCM combo ticket, you need to show the ticket to the MNR conductor and tell them where your going. Although I personally feel like the paper tickets are a headache...

paper tickets might be the way to go if you're going long distance, I actually had my e-tix time out on me when I was coming back to the city from New Haven. I had to explain to the LIRR conductor my situation when leaving Grand Central. 

On 6/11/2023 at 12:26 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

Yup, I was thinking to addend my post that the people who benefit most are already inside the city zone and want a better way into Manhattan to catch MNRR or LIRR

Do you find that LIRR is frequent enough to match your schedule? That's always been the issue for me (and also the time it would take me to get to an LIRR station in Queens)

Yeah, a combo city ticket would be handy but I really doubt we'll see any functional changes to the fare policy until OMNY rolls out. The current $8 add-on seems like a last min slap-on because they weren't ready in time for the OMNY rollout. 

The current LIRR schedule is not really great for these trips since service is split between NYP and GCM with the exception of those who live near busier stations like Jamaica or Woodside. But if you can find a good itinerary it can save more than an hour compared to the express bus. 

[Mtatransit]

On 6/11/2023 at 12:26 PM, QM1to6Ave said:

Yup, I was thinking to addend my post that the people who benefit most are already inside the city zone and want a better way into Manhattan to catch MNRR or LIRR

Do you find that LIRR is frequent enough to match your schedule? That's always been the issue for me (and also the time it would take me to get to an LIRR station in Queens)

For me I use Woodside so it works for me most of the times, LIRR has weird gaps in service every hour. But for people who live in areas with lower frequency they will have to time their trains. 

Overall the system is not frequent enough to completely coordinate. You may or may not get a convenient MNR/LIRR connection once you get to GCM

[N6 Limited]

MTA hasn’t said much about the combo tickets, are they selling poorly?

[Lawrence St]

2 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

MTA hasn’t said much about the combo tickets, are they selling poorly?

I see a lot of them on weekends and during Yankee games.

Something new I’ve noticed is that on late night trains, people will have a combo ticket (even though LIRR stops running out of GCT at around 150 AM) and they just take the subway to Penn and use it there.

[checkmatechamp13]

3 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

MTA hasn’t said much about the combo tickets, are they selling poorly?

If I remember correctly, I think they said they said they sold about 19,000 so far (so that's around 100 per day on average...likely the later months have more as more people found out about it). 

[Gotham Bus Co.]

On 6/11/2023 at 1:45 AM, QM1to6Ave said:

I'll be curious to see stats on how many combo tickets are sold in a year or so. I'm still not convinced there is much of a market for it, unless the MTA really advertises it well to convince people to take special trips this way. I can't see many people using it for Mon-Fri workweek travel to and from their jobs.

 

Depends on where those jobs are. If you live in Queens and work in White Plains or Stamford, a combo ticket could be very useful.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

On 2/23/2023 at 11:14 AM, N6 Limited said:

Train time tells you if a combo ticket is a cheaper option for your trip, so that’s helpful.

From how it’s worded, the combo ticket won’t list destination stations. It will have something like “Origin Station to Grand Central + Combo”. This way they don’t have to program a bunch of station pairs

 

Would it work with a CityTicket? If I'm traveling from Bayside to Tarrytown, could I start with a CityTicket ? Or would I need a normal off-peak ticket to get the $8 combo?