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LIRR President: 2010 Was 'Very Challenging'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- First, the good news. Long Island Rail Road trains broke down less frequently last year than they did in the previous five years.

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WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reports

The bad news: the trains were late more often. The weather gets a big part of the blame.

LIRR President Helena Williams conceded in a Newsday interview that 2010 "was a very challenging year." She said the railroad was going to "work very hard" to make things better.

The latest figures showed the LIRR had the worst on-time figures since 2005, when 92 percent of its trains were on time.

The LIRR said the Christmas weekend blizzard and a September tornado in Brooklyn were major factors.

In August, a fire at a signal tower caused more than 1,000 trains to be late in a single week.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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