Mount Vernon East (Metro-North station)

Mount Vernon East
A New York City-bound train arrives at Mount Vernon East station.
Location	1 East First Street, Mount Vernon, NY 10550
Coordinates	40°54′43″N 73°49′54″W / 40.911942°N 73.831678°W / 40.911942; -73.831678Coordinates: 40°54′43″N 73°49′54″W / 40.911942°N 73.831678°W / 40.911942; -73.831678
Owned by	Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Line(s)	New Haven Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Connections	Bee-Line Bus System: (see Petrillo Plaza below)
Construction
Parking	283 spaces
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	12
History
Electrified	700V (DC) third rail
Previous names	Mount Vernon (????-1997?)
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station Yankees – East 153rd Street toward Grand Central New Haven Line Yankee game days only Pelham toward New Haven State Street Fordham toward Grand Central New Haven Line Pelham toward New Haven State Street

The Mount Vernon East Metro-North Railroad station serves passengers at Mount Vernon, New York, via the New Haven Line. The station is the first station north of the junction where the New Haven Line splits from the Harlem Line and is the only station on the line before it changes from third rail power to overhead catenary power, which takes place north of there, between Mount Vernon East and Pelham stations. Some New Haven Railroad-era overhead catenary poles can still be found southwest of the Gramatan Avenue bridge. After Pelham, the New Haven Line joins the Northeast Corridor at New Rochelle.

Mount Vernon East is 14 miles (23 km) from Grand Central Terminal and the average travel time from Grand Central is 29 minutes. It contains stained glass artwork named Tranquility by Marjorie Blackwell from 2001, and the station itself is dedicated to Fred Wilkinson.

Prior to being acquired by Penn Central Railroad, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad had two stations in Mount Vernon; The main station which was actually located west of the Park Avenue Bridge rather than east of it, and another at Columbus Avenue, which also included a connecting station for the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, one of five NYW&B stations within the city. Mount Vernon's main New Haven Railroad station contained a series of sidetracks on the north side of East First Street between Park and Fulton Avenues. Penn Central closed the Columbus Avenue station during the early-1970s and converted the sidetracks into extended parking lots. After the station became a Metro-North station, it was moved and rebuilt across the Park Avenue Bridge to Elm Avenue across from Portugal Place, in spite of the fact that Metro-North still gives the address as being at East First Street. Today, the site of the old Mount Vernon New Haven Railroad Station is occupied by August Petrillo Plaza (see below), a Westchester County Bee-Line Bus System and local taxi hub.