Among the largely unloved ranks of public transit systems, the Metro-North Railroad has long been the golden child.

Its ridership has doubled in the 30 years since its inception, and would have set a record last year if not for Hurricane Sandy. Its on-time performance statistics are the envy of railroads around the country. And as its sister service, the Long Island Rail Road, labors beneath the low ceilings of Pennsylvania Station, Metro-North trains shuttle in and out of Grand Central Terminal, esteemed as the stateliest rail hub of them all.

This year, though, has not been kind to Metro-North.

Most recently it saw its New Haven line reduced to a patchwork of shuttle buses and trains after a power failure last week in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Service is not expected to return to normal until next week, which has led the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to take the unusual step of offering credits to affected riders.