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New LIRR president reaches out to residents at Nassau meeting

Luke Torrance
The Long Island Rail Road could be seeing some infrastructure improvements in the coming months. (Photo courtesy of the MTA)
The Long Island Rail Road could be seeing some infrastructure improvements in the coming months. (Photo courtesy of the MTA)

The Long Island Rail Road is beset by many problems: trains that don’t meet schedules, switch problems and worn-down stations, to name a few. New LIRR President Phillip Eng said he is aware of the problems, as he laid out his plans to address them in a presentation Thursday at Adelphi University.

But frustration was driven home by a question-and-answer session after the presentation, where Eng stood patiently behind the podium as local politicians, residents and riders expressed their concerns.

“I am a frustrated commuter … there is nothing in my commute where I can give [the LIRR] a pass,” one resident said.

Another kept referring to the LIRR’s parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, saying that MTA stood instead for “money thrown away.”

Eng listened to their complaints and responded that the LIRR was doing everything it could to improve the commute. He said that the agency would take a more proactive approach to fixing the railroad’s problems instead of waiting for things to break.

Those proactive improvements were outlined in a brief presentation he gave to open the meeting.

“Even when we’re doing well, we look for ways to get better,” he said. “You’re not saving money by fixing it later.”

The biggest point of frustration, he said, was delays. He said the LIRR identified 10 switches that caused 44 percent of issues and had those fixed (including a particularly troubling switch near the Jamaica station, a chokepoint for the railroad.) He said the agency also upgraded 370 track circuits that were causing more than a third of failures.

Eng admitted that sometimes stations announced that trains would arrive on time even when the train was behind schedule. He said that the LIRR was in the process of equipping each train with a GPS, which will allow riders to track the train in real time.

Other issues mentioned were the installation of delineators at grade-level crossings to prevent cars from turning onto the tracks (Eng said the LIRR was working with Waze, as motorists turned onto the tracks due to misunderstanding GPS instructions.) He said that 180 miles of overgrown vegetation were being cleared to prevent branches and trees from falling on the tracks.

Other weather-related improvements included the installation of 60 snow switch covers and 14 third rail heaters.

In order to improve rider comfort, he said the LIRR is looking to clean car interiors more frequently. Currently, they are cleaned once at the end of the day.

“There is nothing worse than sitting in a dirty car, sitting in a car that smells,” he said.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran made a brief appearance to ask the first question, which was what the LIRR was doing to develop transit-oriented development. Eng said the LIRR had to work with other government agencies to develop a vision together.

Also asking questions was state Sen. Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill), who started by thanking Eng for holding the event.

“What we’re seeing here tonight is I believe a huge step forward because it’s action today,” she said.

She backed transit-oriented development as a way to attract millennials to Long Island. She also urged the LIRR to open the Belmont station as soon as possible.

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