MTA Head Lhota Blasts LIRR
2018 has been very rough for MTA Long Island Rail Road commuters as the agency has seen service crumble throughout the system. Almost every day this year has seen service suspended on at least one branch during rush hour. This is not the kind of service that is acceptable by any means especially when you are forced to pay ridiculous prices for said service.
MTA Chairman Joe Lhota has been watching the chaos & mayhem unfold at the LIRR & he came down hard saying “the status quo absolutely cannot continue” and that he is “not happy” and will do something about it. Alfonso A. Castillo of Newsday has more:
MTA chairman Joe Lhota is promising to take corrective steps to address the recent spate of LIRR service meltdowns that have plagued the commutes of tens of thousands of Long Islanders — including, potentially, a shake-up in LIRR personnel.
Incensed LIRR riders have been sounding off on social media about what they say has been an abysmal beginning to 2018 — and to Amtrak’s latest infrastructure renewal project at Penn Station.
On Friday, Lhota said he, too, is “not happy” and plans to do something about it.
“The status quo absolutely cannot continue,” said Lhota, adding that he is “looking at the organization” as he considers ways to improve the LIRR’s recent poor performance.
“Evaluation and re-evaluation of staff is always high on my priority list, and I’m doing that now within the Long Island Rail Road,” Lhota added, while declining to speak in detail of what a staff reshuffling would look like.
Unplanned delays and cancellations, uncomfortable conditions on trains and at stations, and inaccurate service-information updates have marred nearly every rush hour over the last two weeks. During the time, the LIRR has suspended service on one or more branches at least 17 times — about as many suspensions as in November and December combined.
Statistics on LIRR’s performance so far in January, as compiled by islirrontime.com—an independent organization that aggregates data provided by the MTA. The LIRR has not released official on-time performance figures for December or January.
January, as of Friday:
— 199 trains canceled or terminated early
— 1,002 trains late
All of December 2017:
— 229 trains canceled or terminated early
— 1,916 trains late
All of November 2017:
— 142 trains canceled or terminated early
— 1,544 trains late
Unplanned LIRR service suspensions on all or part of one or more branches
January, as of Friday:
— 17
December 2017
— 10
November 2017
— 8
Click here for the complete report.
As someone who resides on Long Island, I know all too well how horrible & overpriced the LIRR is. The nightmares you hear & read about are the norm for riders who are forced to pay a high premium for very substandard service. Something needs to be done as the typical delays & overcrowding is unacceptable for what we are forced to pay.
How bad is it usually? I have heard from people who were so frustrated that they rather deal with the traffic on the LIE during rush hour versus dealing with the zoo that is the railroad. Now let that sink in……
xoxo Transit Blogger
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment