Commuter Frustration High After Separate Incidents Cause Delays On Several LIRR Lines
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Frustrations have been mounting for Long Island Railroad commuters this month with unexpected delays, cancellations, and suspensions.
The LIRR blamed freak accidents, mechanical, and weather issues for the transit trouble.
Delays were reported on several lines following two separate incidents during the Wednesday morning rush hour.
A car fire damaged one of two tracks near Urban Avenue in Westbury, causing westbound delays on the Port Jefferson and Ronkonkoma branches.
"The railroad is not getting any better. It is getting worse," Dupree Kennedy told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan.
Wednesday's problems were caused by a driver who turned onto the tracks in Westbury and into the third rail causing the car to explode into flames. He was arrested for drunk driving.
Dozens of railroad workers were called in to fix the extensive damage, but hours later a pedestrian in Lynbrook jumped in front of a moving train and was rushed to the hospital.
That incident caused delays on the Babylon Branch, and resulted in a domino effect as major hubs as far east as Ronkonkoma came to a crawl.
"I am a real estate agent, and I had appointments set for this morning," Joyce Stewart said.
It caused weary commuters to be late yet again.
"I was delayed yesterday about an hour coming home, and now it looks like there's more delays," James Boot said.
Boot said the service is unreliable and unaffordable.
"I go from here to Manhattan every day for school and I usually buy a monthly and with a Metrocard, almost $400," he said.
The railroad defended its price policies and its record -- reporting the six month period ending June 30 as the best in 3 years.
"We were at 93.7 percent on time performance for the entire system," LIRR Spokesman Salvatore Arena said, "July we have had a number of incidents."
Floods from a thunderstorm caused chaos and overcrowding at Penn Station. July has seen derailments, mechanical issues, collisions with cars, and pedestrians slowing, delaying, or suspending service.
"It's pretty brutal, bad, especially when you need to get home to little ladies like this one," Kerrilyn Curtin said.
Social media has once again exploded with complaints demanding the LIRR do better with some favoring the governor's plan.
"Now if we had the third track, that gives you the flexibility to bypass the problem, delays if any would be significantly less," Arena said.
Commuters have again been posting the hashtag #WeDeserveBetter and demanding that either prices go down or performance goes up.
The LIRR said track repairs are now complete, and that the evening commute should continue to be on or close to schedule.
For the latest updates, visit the MTA website or LIRR Twitter page.
