LIRR commuters unite!

One of the greatest benefits of living on Long Island is its close proximity to New York City. One could argue that we’re also fortunate to have one of the best forms of public transportation, the Long Island Rail Road. Sometimes, however, this gift becomes a curse. Just ask the estimated 300,000 people who board a train every day on the country’s largest railroad system.

Over the past year, there have been a string of service disruptions that have left thousands of commuters stranded in Penn Station or Jamaica or the middle of nowhere with limited options after a long day of work.

A prime example is what took place on Sept 29. During a nasty rainstorm, a bolt of lightning struck what the LIRR described as “critical track equipment.” The lightning struck at around 5 p.m. and stalled service for almost 12 hours. Long Island commuters were forced to fend for themselves and find an alternate option to get home. This caused a big nightmare at Jamaica Station, where thousands of commuters were left confused over mixed messages from LIRR operators.

The LIRR desperately needs technological updates so that its commuters are no longer stranded.

On Oct. 10, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer held a press conference, announcing that he would like the railroad to launch a commuters’ bill of rights to better inform passengers about service disruptions, similar to the recently launched airline passengers’ bill of rights. In addition to increasing notifications regarding service delays, Schumer would like the LIRR to “provide information on alternative transit options and let passengers off stranded cars.”

Schumer’s proposed bill does have some intrinsic value for Long Island commuters, but it doesn’t fully addresses the underlying issues that cause the LIRR to operate inefficiently. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority simply does not have enough money in its capital budget to perform the desperately needed updates on the LIRR. The current switching and signaling systems, which are usually to blame for the lengthy delays, are nearly a century old.