Starting next Thursday, MTA-Metro-North Railroad fares are going up.

Most railroad tickets will increase between 7.6% and 9.4% depending on the ticket type and distance traveled. One-way, round-trip and ten-trip ticket increases take effect on December 30, while monthly and weekly ticket increases will take effect January 1.

The base fare for individual rides on New York City Transit’s buses, subways and Access-A-Ride vehicles remains at $2.25. For subway and bus trips only, the reduced fare for seniors and the disabled is $1.10.  However, the single-ride ticket, available in vending machines only, is now priced at $2.50 and must be used within two hours of purchase.

In addition to fares on Metro North and NYC buses and subways, tolls on the MTA's seven bridges and two tunnels will go up at 2 a.m. December 30. Tolls are rising to $6.50 at most crossings for cash customers and increasing to 23 cents to $4.80 at most crossings for E-ZPass customers.

A new survey of Metro North train riders finds 93% of customers are satisfied with service.

Customers of MTA Metro-North Railroad surveyed in June said they were overhelmingly pleased wtih the train service.

The Yonkers Industrial Development Agency(IDA) has voted to negotiate an economic incentive with Champlain Hudson Power Express Inc. (CHPE) to encourage the construction of a 1,000-megawatt power converter station between the Metro North rail lines along the Hudson River and Kawasaki Rail Car Inc.

Get ready to dig deeper to ride Metro North and New York City subways and buses. By the end of the year it will cost more to ride them after the MTA today voted in favor of yet another round of fare hikes.

That means a 25-cent increase to the base fare, hiking it now to $2.50. Monthly Metro North commutation tickets are going up as well, between 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 percent on each of the lines.

Metro North is reporting regular off-peak Metro-North train service has resumed in and out of Grand Central Terminal on the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines after an earlier fire.

There are scattered 15 minute delays reported as of 3 p.m..

A fire on a train bridge has knocked out all Metro North service into and out of Grand Central Station. Fire officials have their hands full with the blaze at the Metro North 138th Street Lift Bridge in East Harlem.

As a result, service has been suspended on all three Metro North train lines, while incoming trains are being held in the Bronx.

All southbound Metro North trains are terminating at Yankee Stadium before turning around and heading north.The Harlem, Hudson and New Haven trains are all affected.

A citizens group in Cortlandt Manor is protesting Consolidated Edison's plans to drain its ten acre lake that runs along Furnace Dock Road.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has ordered the utility to make repairs on the dam, but Con Ed has decided to drain the lake, saying it's best to bring it back to its "natural state."

Railroad Pond was originally a stream that was dammed up by New York Central Railroad, a precursor to Metro North, in 1892, created as a means of servicing locomotives at the former Montrose train station and to supply water for the railroad's steam engines.

Railroad Pond was purchased by Con Edison in 1958 to build power lines from Indian Point to New York City. It has since maintained the dam and madeCitizens Group Joins Fight to Preserve Pond in Cortlandt changes to the Railroad Pond over the years. It has lowered the water table over the past 20 years, decreasing Railroad Pond's size to ten acres. It was originally double that.

Con Ed spokesman Chris Olert says the State DEC deemed Railroad Pond, a "high hazard dam," and ordered the utility to remove the dam altogether, a move he says was endorsed by environmental group, American Rivers. According to Olert, "What we are proposing to do is swap one habitat for another, return the site to its original condition, make the whole area safe,add parkland and hiking trails and public access, something which it does not currently have."

Olert claims the pond is six feet deep at the most, and is not home to any significant number of  fish.

The citizens group that calls itself "Save Railroad Pond," is accusing Con Edison of trying to cut maintenance costs without regard for  the environment. The group's spokesman, Radu Dumitrescu insists that is not the case. Said Dumitrescu, "There is no public benefit by removing the dam altogether, only loss of land, water and biodiversity. This is something that once done, cannot be undone."

Dumitrescu added, "We are sure there are endangered species of plants and animals in the area and we are hoping to order, if need be, a biodiversity study."

Cortlandt Town Supervisor Linda Puglisi and members of the Town Board support efforts to keep the lake as is. The Town Board recently passed a resoulution calling for the State DEC to prevent Con Ed from draining the lake. Opponents of the proposed change also argue that the dam serves to prevent flooding in surrounding communities as swollen small streams flow into it and it diverts the excess water into the nearby Hudson River.

Any changes made to the lake must be approved by the State Public Service Commission (PSC) and a public hearing must first be held in the Town of Cortlandt.

The group has launched a petition drive opposing Con Ed's plan to drain Railroad Pond. To date, it has more than 500 signatures.