Long Island Rail Road [LIRR]
Reviews and Complaints

On January 16, 2020 I rode the 9:31 pm train to Babylon from Penn Station. I was suppose to leave off the train at Copiague but over slept and arrived in Babylon at Approximately 10:55 pm. The 10:55 pm to Penn Station station was leaving as we arrived. I decided to wait for the 11:27 pm train to Penn Station to go back to Copiague. I went downstairs and returned to the platform at approximately 11:15. The station Platform sign stated the 11:27 pm train to leave from Track 1. There was an empty train on Track 3 with some doors on train OPEN and dim lights in some of the cars, the 11:38 pm Electric Locomotive on Track 2 boarding headed East to I believe to Speonk. I sat on the Electric Locomotive awaiting the train for Track 1 to Penn Station. At approximately 11:27 pm no train had pulled into the station on Track 1 to depart at 11:27 pm. At approximately 11:29 pm, an arriving train from Penn Station/Brooklyn pulled into station from Track 3 to Track 1. I boarded the train believing it was the 11:27 pm train headed to Penn Station the doors had closed. A few moments later a conductor walking the train car stated the train was not in service. He let I and another passenger off the train. I and the passenger walked back and forth Track 1 to Track 3 looking for the 11:27 train looking at the station Platform sign for any changes. At approximately 11:31 pm, A couple of minutes later an employee walked by, I caught his attention to ask about the 11;27 TRAIN. He didn't know but said he would try to assist with the question. We walked to the front of the platform up to a Control Booth with approximately 4 employees sitting inside. When he inquired for me these employees looked at each other in amazement and one of them stated the train is on Track 3 which at time the train was in motion pulling out the station with no destination Sign and then after my last look at the last two cars the Destination sign changed to PENN STATION while leaving the Babylon Station. There were no Station ANNOUNCEMENTS of a Track change nor did the Conductor on the departing train on Track 3 make ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS prior to departure. I had to take the 11:56 pm train back to Copiague.

I could complain about thre service but there are more than enough people doing that already with no improvements. This one is easy. This is a pet peeve of mine-grammar. Was there no editing for these LIRR hero ads? It irks me every time I see one. Maybe it just speaks to the sad state of our educational system compared to other countries. You can be "an" LIRR hero? Really? Nobody caught this? The word an is only used when the following word starts with a vowel people.

This is what the 6:02 from Penn looks like every night! I would have taken a better shot, BUT I AM JAMBED IN THIS CAR! Eight cars for this rush hour train is completely unacceptable and you risk violence among riders as confrontations break out almost all of the time as a result of complete overcrowding. Not to mention, the negligently dangerous condition you create! More cars and additional trains are needed before something terrible happens.

Hello, on Jan 5th I bought a metro card, an o/w airtrain tkt and a o/w off peak Jamaica/Hicksville ticket for $15.00. Upon exiting the airtrain in Jamaica, the machine ate my ticket. I went thru the turnstile anyway but had to purchase another Jamaica/Hicksville ticket for $7.50. I would like a refund for the 2nd Jamaica/Hicksville ticket. AND, after traveling from Madrid with a large suitcase, the door of the car I was in did not open In Hicksville and I had to get off at the next stop in Bethpage. EXTEMELY UPSETTING. Thank you, Allison Fox

This morning there was a homeless person who was sleeping in the waiting booth up on the platform of the Bellmore station. He was sleeping on the bench and had numerous bags with him laying around the floor. The LIRR did such a nice job on modernizing the waiting area and this discourages riders from using it. Please have the Police come by on a regular basis and address the situation.

George
[protected]@yahoo.com

I live in Southold and the train goes by around 5:30 am and the whistle is blown so loud and excessively it is highly disturbing at this time in the morning - i can also hear the whistle for 15 mins still being blown. In the past the whistle was blown much softer and a shorter time each time. I work evening shift as a nurse and honestly this is so disturbingly loud I jump for the ten minutes I hear this in the morning until it gets a little further away. It is rude. I am tired . Very little activity on the tracks on the North Fork at this hour. Why so freaking loud now and rude ? For years I have lived here and the previous conductor was thoughtful-it was short and not as loud- Now there must be a new person within the past year and a half - this sounds like he/she wants to wake everyone. People are trying to sleep.
Sleep deprived and angry nurse in Southold.

I feel it's a inconvenience for the 8:14 am train to be taken away. I have to catct the 7:58 am and walk 25 minutes to tje next station so I can catch my connecting train to Long beach. I already by a monthly pass so I would have to spend more money to go to Jamaica and all the way back which is inconvenient. If i take a later train i will get to work late. So during the winter i have no choose but to walk 25 minutes .

Wantagh waiting room Locked 3:41 train excess of 20 - 25 people locked out in chilly weather while room remains empty (and this is only one train out of the day). I have pictures I would love to submit. I took the picture from the far side of the waiting room looking thru glass doors of empty room you will see the majority of people clustered in the elevator cubby.

It has been locked on Windy Freezing says / Rainy days with people clustering in the elevator cubby area or other areas to stay out of the elements.

On 12/11, I boarded a westbound train at 9:11 a.m. from Gibson. I entered the middle of the train (5th or 6th car). I had purchased a non-peak ticket which I presented to a female Conductor. She took my ticket and indicated it was a peak train and there would be a step-up fare. I mentioned I thought trains after 9 a.m were considered off-peak. She said that any train arriving Penn station before 10 a.m. is considered peak. As there were delays systemwide due to snow and a switch problem, I asked whether the train would be arriving Penn station by 10 a.m. She immediately became angry and aggressive and LOUDLY said I needed to pay the fare or she would call the police. At this point, we were approaching Jamaica station. I said I didn't have any cash on me but would get off the train at the next stop and purchase the correct ticket. She didn't offer any alternative form of payment only saying loudly that she was calling the police to escort me off the train. Other riders were staring at her and me. I asked if I'd be able to pay by credit card. She said yes. Well, why didn't she offer that or any other means of paying. All she kept saying was she was calling the police because I didn't pay the fare. (She was holding the ticket in her hand.) I had paid the fare however it was the wrong fare. It's not like I was trying to ride the train for free! I'm 62 years of age and have been riding the LIRR for almost 40 years. I have NEVER forgotten to purchase my monthly ticket EVER! This month, I am using daily tickets as I'm taking vacation time and don't need the monthly. I've heard of Conductors being aggressive with riders but have never fallen victim. I realize she has a job to do but the first words out of her mouth was "I'm calling the police". I had to be the one to inquire about paying by credit card which I didn't know you could do on the train. Someone needs to talk to this female employee and tell her to calm down and stop exerting her power and taking her frustrations out on riders. I'm sure I'm not the first one she's spoken to like that. If there are train delays and she can't handle the public's response/inquiries to the situation, she needs to call in sick and stay home! I'm sorry to have to write a letter like this as I appreciate the service the LIRR provides but unfortunately today's experience was not pleasant. In fact, it was embarrassing. I'd like a response. Thank you.

It really is a shame that this is the only train I can take from my stop in the morning to get to my job in Brooklyn. My office hours are 9 to 5. The 7:13 gets me in too early, not to mention I need to get my kids off to school so I couldn't take that train anyway. But the 7:53 is late every day and very over crowded, and today was no exception. When is the LIRR going to wake up and realize more people are going into Brooklyn these days, and more people are going into Manhattan through Brooklyn these days. If you don't want to give us another train, how about another option, LIKE MAYBE ONE OF THE MANHATTAN TRAINS CAN MAKE A JAMAICA STOP so we can get a connection. How about helping out all us working moms that need to get kids out and still get to work on time. I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place for this type of complaint, but I thought I'd say it anyway

My 19yr old son who goes to school in NYC tal s the 12:17pm 12:30pm (recently changed) on 12/2 from wantagh to penn. when the 1st conductor came through he showed him the pic of him a monthly card on his phone no problem. As the train was pulling into wood side another conductor asked for a ticket he showed him the same thing n this wasn't good enough. Then the conductor got loud claiming "oh your refusing to pay" knowing there was an non uniform police officer there and my son keeper saying no I already pad. I don't what kind of sick game this conductor and the so called police officer but m son shouldn't have to pay for a ticket he already paid for I expect an answer at [protected]@yahoo.com

Friday Nov 22, 2019. Babylon train heading east from Penn station stuck on the train for well over 2.5 hours. Vague disclosure of the issue which caused the service interruption. Takes over an hour and a half to decide to call for a rescue train. Unacceptable. Rescue train arrives and the process is still delayed..The workers all seem unsure of how to respond to a service interruption. Unacceptable

Today, 11/22/19 @ approximately 6:55 am, I had an incident with a LIRR worker. (picture is attached). Recently this worker has been tasked with cleaning the waiting room located on track 4 & 5 at the Jamaica Station. Although it has been cold, he routinely leaves both of the doors open in the waiting room, while he cleans the windows. Today, I arrived while he was cleaning the OUTSIDE windows, by the tracks, and still saw that both of the doors were open. I closed the door closest to to me since it was cold and windy, while the other door nearest to him remained open. Although, this wouldn't eliminate the waiting room from being cold, it do help to alleviate the issue. He turned and saw that the door was closed and came to open the door, stating "leave it open" and returned to work OUTSIDE the waiting room again. Prior to his leaving, i told him that we are cold and why do he have to leave the door open. I did close back the door while he went back to cleaning the window. He came and opened the door again and informed me that he had the right to leave it open while he is cleaning. I do agree that the waiting room is provided by LIRR for ticketed passengers and do control the use. However, I see all the other cleaners doing their job and not going out of their way just to cause discomfort for passengers. Despite alerting him that it is cold and windy, he refuse to close the door. This has been his routine for at least the past 2 weeks. He told me that if i am cold stand in the middle of the waiting room. So i guess all of us have to stand in the middle. I was standing by the heating lamp that is located in the waiting room. As colder weather is approaching, I am concerned that he will continue his bullying tactic and leaving the doors open just because "he can". The waiting room on track 4 & 5 never had this issue, until he started cleaning it.

I am writing this complaint as I stand on my 50 minute train ride home after a hard day of work like I did yesterday, and the week before. As a frequent customer for over a decade, who spends over $5000 annually on transportation, I am OUTRAGED. We did not have this problem until you took away our 2:00 train from Pennsylvania station to Hicksville. The 2pm train was crowded enough, now you are forcing double the amount of people to cram into one train. These poor people, including women and children, are forced to stand for their entire commute. Which they payed top dollar for. And as the price of a train tickets continue to rise, how come the quality of service continues to diminish? It is absolutely shameful and I demand an explanation.

I was on the 9:42 pm LIRR train on Friday, November 15th 2019 going to New Hyde Park. When the train arrived at the station the doors did not open. Nor did they open in Merillon Ave. When the passengers confronted the conductor he just walked passed us. When arrived in Mineola we were told to cross the platform to catch the next train going westbound!

Approximately 2-3 months ago the My MTA app started malfunctioning. The day if a trip the daytime trips started being displayed as "Completed" at a few minutes after midnight. Both coming and going trips showed as being completed at exactly the same time.

This happens on the day of the trip, presumably just after midnight and tells me that I have no more rides for the day.

As a result, I get no more 16-minute warning calls, I cannot see what kind of car is coming and I do not know when the driver will actually come or who he is.

Yesterday, 11/16/19 I booked a trip to Manhattan for today, 12/17/19, at 2:20 pm. I went to see when it was coming on the app (the problem is inconsistent but the time is usually wrong.) It told me that the trip had occurred at 12:01 AM and the return trip at the same time. I called the MTA and was told that the driver had arrived at 1:25 pm, an hour earlier and that I was recorded as a no-show. The app yesterday said the car would come at 2:30 PM and today it said 12:01 AM. I got no phone call because the trip had allegedly occurred already. There was no way that I could know when the drivere was expected although I called well in advance of the trip time requested.

I want that non-show eliminated from my record.

This happens with the My MTA cell-phone app, the computer online program and the voicemail for MTA, but not when I speak with an agent. As a result, I have to spend excessive time on hold for information I could have retrieved in a minute and MTA resources are taxed more than necessary.

I have tried many times to text the My MTA comment function, but it cannot connect to the captcha function, so wipes out all my texts to the MTA. I have discussed this with MTA operators and even went so far as to contact the programer whose name was in the Google store when I tried reinstalling the program.

The original paratransit program was excellent but it appears that there is no tech updatinig the program. Please, please get this function fixed.

My boyfriend and I were just driving to a party (November 14, 2019 at 6:50 PM) and saw a car cut off an access a van. Your driver then sped towards him, cut him off driving on the side of the road to do so, and then went straight in a turning lane on Little Clove Road and Renwick Ave, close to Petredes School. This was insanely dangerous and he almost hit into us since we were in the straight lane. I sincerely hope you reprimand this driver. You cannot have him risking the lives of your clients and the lives of people on the road beside him.

I arrive at the Farmingdale station everyday for the 5:16 train to Deer Park. For the last two weeks during cold weather and rain myself and other paying riders had to wait outside under inclement weather.

Was told the reason the waiting room is closed was to keep the homeless out of the waiting rooms. I pay for my ticket every single day and deserve better than this. I am to the point of contacting news stations to assist with paying commuters waiting outside in the cold and rain.