by The service changes introduced in the third week of the LIRR’s new service plan have improved problems with crowding and delays, and the numbers support that, the railroad’s chief said Thursday.
But some riders say the Long Island Rail Road’s new operation remains deeply flawed, causing long waits and uncomfortable commutes.
After the latest round of schedule adjustments went into effect Monday, no trains have run more than 100% capacity, LIRR interim president Catherine Rinaldi said. In addition, Rinaldi said, on-time performance has recovered to more than 90% on most days, after falling to just 84% during the first week of full service to Grand Central Madison.
Passenger numbers have also increased, with the railway having its two busiest days of the year on March 7 and Wednesday. On both days, the railroad carried more than 205,000 passengers, the most since the day before Thanksgiving—typically one of LIRR’s busiest of the year.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Adjustments made to the LIRR’s new service plan have helped reduce crowds and delays, according to the railroad’s interim president, who pointed to improved on-time performance and train capacity data as evidence of the improvements.
- The LIRR has added cars to some trains, diverted some Grand Central trains back to Penn Station and increased the frequency of new commuter trains on the Brooklyn line. Bigger adjustments will probably not come until the next schedules are published after May 21.
- Despite the fixes, some commuters say Major problems remain in the LIRR’s new operation, including undercarriage and the elimination of timed transfers, leading to missed connections and long waiting times.
Rinaldi said in an interview Thursday that there are other signs of improvement, including more frequent arrivals and departures of the new Brooklyn shuttle, fewer crowds and better customer flow at Jamaica’s station, a major transfer point.
“I think we’ve made good progress on some of the pressing issues we encountered in the first few days of service,” said Rinaldi, who made several recent changes to the railway’s operation, including rerouting from some Grand Central trains to Penn Station and adding trains on the Brooklyn line.
“I feel like what we put in place this Monday helped, but I don’t want anyone to get the impression that we’re patting ourselves on the back and that everything is perfect. We know there is still work to be done,” she added.
At Mineola station, LIRR riders traveling outside rush hours on Friday praised the new service plan for giving them new options.
“It’s a good addition because you can just go to Grand Central that way. You don’t have to go to Penn Station,” said Anthony House, 57, of Central Islip, who travels through Grand Central on his way to visit family. in Connecticut. “It’s just better.”
Some riders say the worst problems in the new LIRR are baked into the new approach and can’t be fixed with minor tweaks.
Chad Leo, of Albertson, said the new schedules force him to be either 45 minutes early or 20 minutes late for his restaurant job near Penn Station.
“If it benefits someone, I’m happy for them. But the only thing is that it shouldn’t be at the expense of someone else. We all pay the same fee,” said 48-year-old Leo. “Either they come up with a plan to serve everyone, or they can’t serve everyone.”
Glen Cove commuter Elizabeth Ames said she arrived in Jamaica around 10 p.m. Wednesday, only to see her connecting train to Oyster Bay pull away just as she and her fellow passengers were alighting. The railroad eliminated timed transfers in its new operation, meaning trains don’t wait for connections.
With an hour to wait for the next train, Ames took the train to Mineola, where she paid $50 for a cab and got home around midnight.
“If it’s supposed to work like this from now on, it won’t work,” Ames said in an interview Thursday. ‘I don’t care if it’s the [new] system. The system needs to be repaired. It does not fulfill the promise of the service.”
LIRR Commuter Council Chairman Gerard Bringmann said that while “improvements have been made” since the launch of the new schedules on Feb. 27, the service is “still nowhere near where” riders want it.
A key problem, Bringmann said, is that the LIRR underestimated how many trains it would need for its expanded service, and “is now playing railcar Jenga to try and alleviate the overcrowding we’re still seeing on certain trains.”
Rinaldi said the railroad can continue to adjust train lengths by removing cars from some trains and adding them to others to meet demand and make other adjustments to address service gaps.
But, she said, bigger changes to the railroad’s operation likely won’t come until the next revision of the schedule. Rinaldi wouldn’t say when that will be, but the LIRR’s current schedule will remain in place at least until May 21.
In that next scheme, Rinaldi said, the railroad would aim to “take lessons from how people travel now and potentially do something that’s a little bit beyond what we’re currently doing.”
