Cedric Channels

Long Island Rail Road

File:MTA Long Island Rail Road logo.png
The Long Island Rail Road provides electric and diesel rail service east-west throughout Long Island, New York.
Overview
Headquarters	Jamaica Railroad Station Jamaica, NY 11435
Reporting mark	LI
Locale	Long Island, New York
Dates of operation	1836–present (PRR-operated from 1928 to 1949)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York that has been classified as a Class II railroad by the Surface Transportation Board. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, servicing around 81 million passengers each year, and the oldest US railroad still operating under its original name. There are 124 stations on the LIRR, and more than 700 miles (1100 km) of track on its two lines to the two forks of the island and eight major branches. Each weekday, the LIRR provides more than 282,410 rides to customers. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has styled it MTA Long Island Rail Road.

In addition to commuter trains, the LIRR runs trains for travelers to eastern Long Island, including the express Cannonball to the Hamptons, operated since the 1890s.

Freight service on the system has been operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway since 1997, including three freight-only branches and Bay Ridge Yard in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The current LIRR logo combines the circular MTA logo with the text "Long Island Rail Road", and appears on the sides of trains.

Terminals

LIRR concourse at Penn Station

The LIRR has three western (New York City) terminals.

Pennsylvania Station, in Midtown Manhattan, is the busiest of the three, serving almost 500 daily trains. It is reached via the Amtrak-owned East River Tunnels (the only LIRR-used trackage not owned by the LIRR) from the Main Line in Long Island City. The New York City Subway's 34th Street–Penn Station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) and 34th Street–Penn Station (IND Eighth Avenue Line) stations are located next to the terminal.

Flatbush Avenue station in Downtown Brooklyn serves most other trains. It is located next to the New York City Subway's Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street station complex, providing easy access to Lower Manhattan.

Long Island City station and yard, with DE30AC/DM30AC engines, with C3 bi-level coach cars.

A handful of daily trains run to Hunterspoint Avenue or beyond to Long Island City on the East River in Long Island City. From Hunterspoint Avenue, the Hunters Point Avenue (IRT Flushing Line) subway station can be reached for Midtown Manhattan access.

Access to a third major terminal is currently under construction. In 2013 the LIRR intends to initiate service to Grand Central Terminal via the East Side Access project; provision was made for this route on the lower level of the 63rd Street Tunnel under the East River, which currently carries the IND 63rd Street Line (F (New York City Subway)) of the New York City Subway on its upper level. Construction of the East Side Access project will reduce congestion during rush hour times as well as increase the number of trains operating during peak hours.

Platforms at Jamaica

Jamaica Station is a major station and transfer point in Jamaica, Queens, where the railroad's headquarters are located. (The parent MTA is headquartered in Manhattan.) Jamaica encompasses eight tracks and six platforms, plus yard and bypass tracks. At Jamaica, passengers can transfer between trains of all services but the Port Washington Branch. Transfer is also made to separate facilities for three different subway lines (at the Sutphin Boulevard/Archer Avenue–JFK station), a number of bus routes, and the AirTrain automated electric rail system to JFK Airport.

Lines and services

See also: List of former Long Island Rail Road lines

Schematic of services

All services except the Port Washington Branch pass through Jamaica; the trackage west of Jamaica (except to Port Washington) is known as the City Terminal Zone. The City Terminal Zone includes portions of the Main Line and Atlantic and Montauk Branches, as well as the Amtrak-owned East River Tunnels to Penn Station.

The Main Line runs from Long Island City east to Greenport; trains using the East River Tunnels from New York Penn Station join the line at Sunnyside Yard. It is electrified west of Ronkonkoma; diesel trains continue to Greenport. The services that run along this line are named after the branches that they use; trains beyond Hicksville, where the Port Jefferson Branch splits, are known as Ronkonkoma Branch and sometimes Greenport Branch trains. A short unnamed electric branch from Queens Village serves Belmont Park on race days.

The Montauk Branch runs from Long Island City to Montauk, meeting the Main Line at Long Island City and Jamaica. It is electrified from Jamaica east to Babylon; only diesel trains use the "Lower Montauk" section west of Jamaica or the outer section east of Babylon. Only trains east of Babylon are considered part of the Montauk Branch service; the line from Lynbrook to Babylon carries Babylon Branch trains.

Refreshing ballast on Main Line

The electrified Atlantic Branch runs from Downtown Brooklyn east to Jamaica, where it meets the Main Line, and then heads southeast to end at the Montauk Branch at Valley Stream. The part east of Jamaica is considered part of the Far Rockaway Branch service.

The electrified Port Washington Branch - the only one that doesn't serve Jamaica - branches from the Main Line east of Woodside and heads east and northeast to Port Washington.

The Port Jefferson Branch branches from the Main Line at Hicksville, with electric service to Huntington and diesel service to Port Jefferson. Until 1938, it continued east to Wading River.

File:LIRRtrain.JPG

LIRR M-7 train moves through a grade crossing

The electrified Hempstead Branch branches from the Main Line at Floral Park and runs east to Hempstead.

The Oyster Bay Branch splits from the Main Line at Mineola and heads north and east to Oyster Bay. The first bit to East Williston is electrified; only diesel trains run along the majority of the line to Oyster Bay.

The diesel Central Branch runs southeast from the Main Line at Bethpage to the Montauk Branch at Babylon, giving an alternate route to the Montauk Branch east of Babylon. The Central Branch used to continue west from Bethpage to near Garden City, where it used what is now the Hempstead Branch to the Main Line at Floral Park.

The electrified Far Rockaway Branch splits from the Atlantic Branch at Valley Stream and runs south and southwest to Far Rockaway. It used to continue west along what is now the New York City Subway's IND Rockaway Line to Hammels and Rockaway Park.

The electrified West Hempstead Branch branches from the Babylon Branch at Valley Stream and runs northeast to West Hempstead, originally continuing to junction the Hempstead Branch and Main Line.

The electrified Long Beach Branch splits from the Far Rockaway Branch at Valley Stream but does not curve away until Lynbrook, where it turns south to end at Long Beach.

In addition to the commuter services, the LIRR operates trains for vacationers, including the premier Cannonball, to the Hamptons. The LIRR first entered the area with the Sag Harbor Branch in 1869, and begin to serve Montauk in 1895 with the completion of the Montauk Branch. By 1895, a special fast train on the Main Line to Greenport was known as the Cannon Ball; a section split at Manorville to serve Montauk via the Manorville Branch and Montauk Branch by 1897. In 1949, when the Manorville Branch was abandoned, the Cannon Ball was shifted to the Central Branch. The Sunrise Special, a first-class train to Montauk, was added in 1926. For a time, Pullman parlor cars and sleeping cars were operated through Penn Station to Montauk from points such as Pittsburgh and Washington.

C3 Bi-level coaches at grade crossing in Bethpage.

Other eastern Long Island services included the local "Scoot", which operated between the two forks (Greenport on the North Fork to Amagansett on the South Fork) via the Manorville Branch. It was eliminated in February 1931 due to the effect of the Great Depression and competition from the automobile.

Four non-electrified lines are only used for freight, now operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway. The Montauk Cutoff Secondary is a short connection from the Main Line at Sunnyside Yard south to the Montauk Branch, separating passenger and freight movements. The Bushwick Lead Track runs west from the Montauk Branch at Maspeth to Bushwick Terminal. The Bay Ridge Branch runs south and west from the Montauk Branch at Fresh Pond to Bay Ridge. At Fresh Pond, it meets CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary, which goes over the Hell Gate Bridge towards Upstate New York and New England. The Garden City-Mitchel Field Secondary is a remnant of the Central Branch from Garden City to Mitchel Field.

Passenger issues

The LIRR has a long history of rocky relations with its passengers , especially daily commuters . Various commuter advocacy groups have been formed to try to represent those interests, in addition to the state mandated LIRR Commuters Council .

One criticism of the LIRR is that the railroad has not improved service to the "east end" of Long Island as the twin forks continue to grow in popularity as a year round tourist and residential destination. Demand is evidenced by flourishing bus services and the early formative stages of a new East End Transportation Authority.

Another criticism is that the On Time Performance (OTP) calculated by the LIRR is meaningless and manipulated to be artificially high. The "percentage" measure is used by many other US passenger railroads but the criticism over accuracy is specific to the LIRR. As defined by the LIRR, a train is "on time" if it arrives at a station within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of the scheduled time. The criterion was 4 minutes and 59 seconds until the LIRR changed it because of a bug in their computer systems. Critics believe the OTP measure does not reflect what commuters experience on a daily basis, and that the 'real' On Time Performance of the LIRR is about 70% to 75% rather than the 92% to 96% that is published. The LIRR publishes the current OTP in a monthly booklet called Keeping Track.

A more accurate way to measure delays and OTP has been proposed to the LIRR. Called the "Passenger Hours Delayed" index it can measure total person-hours of a specific delay. This would be useful in comparing performance of specific days or incidents, day-to-day (or week-to-week) periods, something the current measure cannot do. This 'PHD' index measure is used by some transportation research organizations and would be more meaningful to commuters. As of September 2007 it has not been adopted. The two methods are not mutually exclusive and could be kept and published simultaneously.

2007 ridership was 86.1 million, up 4.9% over 2006. The all time highest ridership was 91.8 million in 1949. [1]

Freight service

The freight-only Bay Ridge Branch runs through Brooklyn.

The LIRR and other railroads that became part of the system have always had freight service, though this has diminished over the years. The process of shedding freight service accelerated with the acquisition of the railroad by New York State.

In recent years there has been some appreciation of the need for better railroad freight service in New York City and elsewhere on Long Island. Both areas are primarily served by trucking for freight haulage, an irony in a region with the most extensive rail transit service in the Americas as well as the worst traffic conditions. Proposals for a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel for freight have languished more than a century.

Freight service is now operated on lease by the New York and Atlantic Railway, a short line railroad owned by the Anacostia and Pacific Company. It has its own equipment and crews, but uses the rail facilities of the LIRR. To the east, freight service operates to the ends of the West Hempstead, Port Jefferson and Montauk branches, and to Southold on the Mainline. On the western end it provides service on the surviving freight-only tracks of the LIRR: the Bay Ridge and Bushwick branches; the nearly freight-only "Lower Montauk"; and to an interchange connection at Fresh Pond Junction in Queens with the CSX, Canadian Pacific, and Providence and Worcester railroads.

History

Main article: History of the Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road was consolidated from a number of railroads during the 19th century. The Pennsylvania Railroad purchased a controlling interest in 1900, as part of a joint plan to provide direct access to Manhattan. Perennial financial distress did not end in the PRR era, and the LIRR was bought by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1966.

On May 17 2007, Long Island Rail Road was awarded a Bronze E. H. Harriman Award for its safety record in 2006. However, The New York Times reported that up to 97% of LIRR retirees file for occupational disability upon retirement, a rate railroad expert Glenn Scammel said was impossible in any work environment but the gulag.

Law enforcement

The former LIRR Police Department, which was founded in 1863, was absorbed along with the Metro-North Railroad Police to form the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police (MTA Police) in 1998.

Alcohol restrictions

Section 1097.5 of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Conduct and Safety of the Public and Use of the Long Island Rail Road Company Terminals, Stations and Trains prohibits drinking any alcoholic beverage or possess any opened or unsealed container of alcoholic beverage, except in premises or areas allowing the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages, such as on trains or platforms or in bars or restaurants.

"In an effort to maintain orderly travel for our customers attending the St. Patrick’s Day Parade" as claimed by LIRR, LIRR has banned alcoholic beverage on St. Patrick’s Day. In 2007, such a ban to confiscate opened and even unopened beverages and fine their possessors about 50 USD created controversies. New York State Senator Martin Golden proposed that the MTA lift what he dubbed a discriminatory ban.

LIRR has also banned alcohol on New Year's Eve.

Alleged pension and disability fraud

As part of an investigation into alleged abuses of pension and disability payments to retirees of Long Island Rail Road, U.S. Federal agents raided the Long Island office of the Railroad Retirement Board on September 23, 2008. New York Governor David Paterson issued a statement calling for Congress to conduct a full review of the Board's mission and daily activities. Officials at the Board's headquarters in Chicago declined to comment on the case.

See also

• Long Island Rail Road fleet
• List of presidents and trustees of the Long Island Rail Road
• List of Long Island Rail Road stations
• Long Island Rail Road massacre

References

http://mta.info/mta/ind-perform/month/lirr-otp.htm

External links

• MTA Long Island Rail Road
• Five Towns Rural Transit
• Long Island Rail Road Schedule (official)
• Long Island Rail Road Schedule (alternative)
• Long Island Rail Road History