Metro-North Railroad will extend commute times for tens of thousands of riders this year in a bid to improve reliability.

“Fast is good, but reliable is better,” the railroad’s president Catherine Rinaldi told Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members at a meeting in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

The extra time is needed to accommodate slowdowns, such as when trains are forced to stop and operate at reduced speeds because of infrastructure work, Metro-North officials said.

Schedule changes are set to take effect beginning in April, with a second round slated to start in July, MTA officials said.

Metro-North plans to add between two and seven minutes to Hudson Line trains and between one and five minutes to Harlem Line trains.