After two days of headaches and crowding for Long Island Rail Road passengers, the MTA says it will return to its previous schedule later this month.
LIRR President Phil Eng said he heard customers’ concerns “loud and clear” and will return to the previous calendar on March 29.
Eng says that from now until then, the railway “will strategically add additional trains and increase the trains to meet evolving passenger levels”
Long Island Rail Road says it added more trains on Tuesday to avoid overcrowding caused by the cut in service, and will add even more trains on Wednesday.
Following outrage on Monday, LIRR made changes today, adding a total of nine trains since then, including four trains on the Babylon branch, two trains on the Ronkonkoma line and an additional train leaving Hicksville.
Some viewers posted images on social media of crowded wagons again on Tuesday, during the morning commute.
The photos sent by viewers on Tuesday morning show that there were only standing spaces on some trains, even with the changes.
“With the new schedule, they were crowded like cattle cars. People on top of each other. They talk about social detachment, people were literally on top of each other, ”said Kevin Coszier, of Brightwaters.
And it’s not just the pilots who are concerned. Union boss Anthony Simon said that some team members are petrified to go to work.
“We told Phil Eng and Pat Foy that this was a mistake. They have now caused a super propagator. They have no means or means to contact the tracking,” said Simon.
LIRR President Phil Eng says they cut the service based on the number of passengers they had been monitoring. He says he maintains his original decision to cut them off.
“We want all of our pilots to know that their comfort is important and we will continue to take that into account and it is important that we continue to listen to them,” said Eng. “I think what we wanted to do was to continue to support the number of passengers as required.”
When asked why the changes will not happen until the end of the month, LIRR officials say it is the fastest time they can set up a new schedule with the same level of service they had before Monday’s cuts. The authorities added that they cannot do exactly the same service because some services are different due to changes in tracking.
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