LI Commuters Concerned Over Packed LIRR Trains

LONG ISLAND, NY — Manhattan-bound Long Island train passengers were standing shoulder-to-shoulder — pre-pandemic-style — aboard some Long Island Rail Road trains during Monday’s morning commute, prompting many to call out the Metropolitan Transit Authority over the lack of social distancing.

“This was the 5:46 a.m. train from Mineola to Penn,” Mineola commuter Matt Long tweeted, with a photo showing passengers crowded in the aisle. “Expect an uptick in [the coronavirus], courtesy of the LIRR.”

Long, a Local 94 operating engineer in Manhattan, said that up until Monday, he would get the 5:30 a.m. train from Mineola and there would also be a 5:37 a.m. and a 5:55 a.m. train, but now those trains are combined into the 5:46 a.m. train.

“I never stopped working and used the trains all throughout the pandemic,” he said in an email to Patch. “But, this morning’s commute was the worst I've dealt with thus far. I fully expect an uptick in positive covid cases on Long Island shortly, courtesy of the LIRR.”

Train riders reported similar situations on trains from Long Beach, Syosset, Westbury and New Hyde Park.

A Westbury rider on the 7:03 a.m. train tweeted the train was way too crowded. “Social distancing was 18 inches, not six feet,” the person wrote.

In some photos posted to social media, masked riders can be seen crowded closer than 6 feet, not in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for traveling on public transportation.

“Those photos are nothing compared to the 8:23 [a.m.] from Long Beach,” tweeted another commuter.

Another commuter tweeted, “[The] LIRR allowed these dangerous schedules to go through, and now who knows how many passengers will spread COVID-19.”

The office of state Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Rockville Centre) began collecting photos from riders, with the senator telling his constituents on Facebook that he empathized with them for sitting in a “packed, cramped train car.”

“We must return to the old schedule and get everyone back to work,” he wrote.

One commuter described the 8:27 a.m. train from Rockville Centre as “absurd,” “fundamentally unsafe” and a “tremendous challenge for essential workers" on Kaminsky’s Facebook page.

“If the same MTA workforce is paid the same salary, including [overtime], how much does it really save to run far fewer trains and put all riders at risk?" the commuter wrote. "You have the support and are the voice of the commuters.”

Another person posted it was ridiculous that riders must “endanger” their lives to get to work, calling it “unacceptable.”

LIRR spokesman Aaron Donovan said the new train schedule, which began Monday and factors in track work required to expand services, likely attributed to the crowding. The new service schedule is providing 75 % per pre-pandemic levels of service for only 24% of the ridership, he said, and the agency will be monitoring train usage using its Train Time app, which can show how many people are on a train at one time and adjustments can be made to address ridership.

In a statement to Patch, LIRR President Phil Eng said that as the agency implemented new schedules Monday, “we monitored trains using new technology that shows realtime loading on each car on every train across our system, alongside reports from personnel in the field.”

“This enabled us to identify trains where adjustments are needed, and we are working to increase capacity by adding trains where possible during those heavier ridership times,” he said. “Details will be shared as soon as they are available.”

LIRR officials advised riders to check the Train Time app to help them plan their commute.