LIRR delays are the worst theyve been in a decade: study
Explore More
Cancellations and delays on Long Island Rail Road trains are worse than they have been in a decade, a new study shows.
Just a little over 80 percent of LIRR’s evening rush train made it to their destination on time over the first fourth months of this year, which is worse than any period since 2007, according to an analysis of data by the Wall Street Journal.
Morning trains did slightly better, with about 89 percent of those trains hitting their final mark when they were supposed to.
Comparatively, 93 percent of evening rush hour trains made it to their destination on time from 2008 to 2012, according to the analysis.
The LIRR has blamed Amtrak, which owns the tracks at Penn Station, for many of the delays. But the study found that Penn Station infrastructure issues were the cause of only 21 percent of the 10,000 trains were that canceled or delayed trains through the first five months of this year, the study says.
Angry riders say they are feeling the pain.
“My train never arrives on time especially for the past three months,” said a rider who only gave her first name, Ellen.
She said she works in banking and lives in Valley Stream.
“I pay money and it takes forever to get to work. They say they will fix it and they have been apparently. How long will that take?. My commute is 35 minutes but now it takes almost one hour,” she said.
Officials at the MTA, which operates the LIRR, blamed the problems on increased ridership and not enough space on the rails.
“The LIRR is carrying more people per year than it has since the 1940s, with the most robust schedules in memory,” said spokesman Aaron Donovan.
“The LIRR is aggressively tackling the challenges of record ridership and strained infrastructure with $3 billion in the MTA Capital Plan for the critically needed Main Line third track, new rail cars and station renovations, renewed signals and communications and all of the infrastructure that’s necessary to provide safe and reliable service every day.”
ncG1vNJzZmimqaW8tMCNnKamZ2Jlfnh7j29maXBfobazvoydnKWZqah6or7EZquhnV2svLO%2F02aroZ2pq7JursSepWahnmKubrDEnJidnV2owbaw2Gg%3D