Commuters can now skip some Long Island Railroad stops

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have announced additional schedule changes to improve Long Island Rail Road service to the North Shore since the Grand Central Madison access service changes went into effect in March. 

“I am extremely pleased with these changes which were accomplished through a months-long continued dialogue with the MTA,” Assemblyman Charles Lavine said. He has advocated for more budgetary funding for the MTA since 2013. “We have worked hand in hand and I look forward to continuing to build on the progress made here in an ongoing effort to make the commute a little easier for riders of the Oyster Bay branch.”

Announced at a webinar on Monday moderated by Lavine and Glen Cove Councilwoman Danielle Fugazy Scagliola, effective immediately the 4:56 a.m  and 5:56 a.m.  westbound trains to Jamaica will no longer stop at Mineola. The 6:22 p.m. eastbound train originating at Penn Station to Oyster Bay will also no longer stop at Mineola.

Effective Sept. 5, the westbound 7:01 a.m. train from Oyster Bay will be an express train skipping the Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Greenvale, Albertson and Mineola stations. Transfers occurring on the 7:17 a.m. train from Oyster Bay will get a new cross-platform transfer opportunity to Penn Station. The train will originate at Jamaica and will be empty, allowing Oyster Bay branch riders their pick of seats.

Service before latest changes

Service on the Long Island Rail Road Oyster Bay branch has become inconvenient, many commuters say, adding that they hoped that some of their travel times would be shortened when the Grand Central Madison access service started in March. Many discovered that that wasn’t the case.

Scagliola and Lavine wrote to MTA CEO Janno Lieber and interim LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi in March, expressing their concerns about the impact of the East Side Access and Grand Central Madison projects on North Shore riders and urging increased service on the Oyster Bay Branch.

As a result of the letter, the MTA omitted two morning Mineola stops, which some say made a slight difference in their commutes.

At the webinar, George Fletcher, who oversees the Long Island Rail Road’s timetables and train capacities, said modifying services to the Oyster Bay Branch is challenging, because of its infrastructure. Constraints along the branch include: four miles of single track between Locust Valley and Oyster Bay, the proximity of certain stations to one another, the hilly topography of the area and the track configuration at Mineola, and limited diesel equipment during the summer months. 

Commuters who responded to the Herald’s Facebook poll about the webinar said they did not listen to the webinar because it wasn’t well publicized. 

What commuters are saying

Glen Cove commuter Aaron Engstrom, who frequents the Glen Street station, said the change is beneficial. He admires the transportation system in Japan, saying the skip-stop service at Tōkaidō Shinkansen’s high-speed rail line models how trains should operate. 

Glen Cove commuter Jennifer Alvarez is concerned about the new timetables. She said those who miss the 7:33 a.m. train from Glen Street already wait until 8:29 a.m. for their next train. She predicts the new schedule changes will make parking a “nightmare” that will impact two adjacent stations, leaving drivers flocking to one.

“There are already so few options for the Oyster Bay line,” Alvarez said. “If the changes will save only six or seven minutes, I don’t see a benefit in making it more difficult for people in those skipped stations. There are often delays, so that time saved will be swallowed up anyway.” 

Roger Donnelly worked for the MTA from 1992 to 2019, before retiring. A subway electrical supervisor, the Sea Cliff resident commuted to Manhattan on the Oyster Bay line. He doesn’t frequent the LIRR as often, but knows other Sea Cliff residents using the Sea Cliff station located in Glen Cove, will have to walk to the Glen Street station to catch their trains if they don’t have cars. 

“I can understand skipping Glen Cove, ironically, because it’s a smaller station,” Donnelly said. “They’re putting band aids on a problem, and they’re trying to tweak the schedule and make things a little bit better, but at the end of the day, you’re still going to be five minutes late getting to Jamaica.”

Scagliola is hopeful the changes are a step in a positive direction. She said other LIRR branches, like the Port Washington line, have express trains or skip-stops, which are more appealing. She hopes the appeal of faster trains will increase ridership and persuade the MTA to investing in more trains on the line.  

“While these steps that we’re hoping to take aren’t perfect, they’re a positive movement forward, and I would hope that commuters will see it as that and we’ll start to see continued improvement on our brand.” Scagliola said. “My hope is really that the changes the LIRR talks about are the first of many as we look forward to meaningful change that will improve our quality of life.”