Long Island Rail Road [LIRR]
reviews and complaints

I have been using the rail road to commute from Kew Gardens to Penn Station for the past 6 years. Over the years, I have experienced many delays using the LIRR which is unacceptable for employees who must arrive to work on time.

Every day the 9:00 am train from Kew Gardens is late! Every day is late 5 mins - 15 mins. Today the train was late 10 mins. this is unacceptable.

Today I had the worst train experience of my life. The train was late, I arrived to Penn Station at 9:45 already late to work. On top of the that, the train was super full! And they shut OFF the air conditioner at Woodside with no AC all the way to Penn Station. I felt like I was going to faint! and I couldn't move to tell a conductor. This is horrendous! Don't let this happen again or I will proceed to take the regular rain and not pay the high price to ride the railroad!

Catherine

All of the platforms were dimly lit up. My final destination was Copiague. The conductor did not announce any of the stops. Everyone was wondering where we were. The train was a older model so there was no indication on the train what stop was next or the current stop. This was the worst service I have ever seen. I was afraid I was going to miss my stop and be forced to stay on the dark platform alone.

Hey,

I bought a peak tickets from Saint James to Penn and i received an off peak service (a local train)

Today 7/15 - 6:34 AM from Saint James become a local train to replace some broken equipment - i arrived to the city ~ 2 hours ... same happened last Friday 6:15 AM from Saint James...
I believe that you didn't deliver your part in the contract..
Thanks, Eitan

If you need additional information:
EItan Klein
Email: [protected]@hotmail.com
phone [protected]

I am extremely Disgusted. The 2:02pm to Atlantic has NOT shown up. There is no info on alternative routes. The announcer states the train is six minutes away at 2:12pm. This has caused me to miss an very important meeting. This is unacceptable how you treat your commuters. You do not offer shuttles in case of emergency, especially when it is not caused by the commuter.

The lirr is constantly changing times making it difficult for people to reach work on time. I take the train to ronkonkoma every morning. The departure time used to be 5:12am then it was moved to 5:18, six minutes makes huge a difference especially when the train is constantly late. Now it is pushed back to 5:40 at this rate I will be forced to find new work. As a teacher I can't stroll in late everyday. The fares are constantly being hiked up but the service is getting worse and now you're making it impossible for people to commute to work to be able to afford the fair. Now not only am I forced to start looking for new work, I am forced to sit in the station for an hour cause there are no busses to deliver me to the lirr aligned with this schedule. The old time schedule of 5:12 am needs to be reinstated immidiately!

My husband and I were driving in the right lane coming off the bridge from Staten Island to Brooklyn. All of a sudden we heard honking. Our lane would merge with the left lane in 15 feet. We were going about 45 and we saw Access a Ride car behind us honking. He was about 30 feet behind us, and nearly ran us off the road while he honked at us. His car was NY 8851 and this occurred on Sunday, July 14. I'm 8 months pregnant and he almost ran us off the road.

My mother was supposed to have an appointment 10 am and the access a ride arrived at 9:30am when they got outside the access a ride wasn't there he was parked in front of the wrong address. When he finally realized he was at the wrong address he had told her that they didn't show up. When she called the access a ride the woman she spoke to was very disrespectful and yelled at her explaining how my mother was lying when she wasn't.. I'm complaining for her because she is elderly and is very upset now because of how she was treated. Access a ride is supposed to make things easier for the elderly not more difficult. I hope this problem gets fixed because this isn't the first time my mother has told me about this same situation happening.
This is in regards for Judith Gomez.

On 7/7/19 I and my family boarded the 5:12 at Atlantic to go to Wyandanch. We arrived on track 6 in Jamaica at 6:39 and walked to our connection at track 7. The Ronkonkoma train was there with the doors closed. My family as well as other groups of people waited for the doors to open but instead to our amazement the train departed with us standing there! In the past trains have waited for connections when a train was running late. We took the next rain to Babylon and had to incur an Uber fee of $20 to get a ride to our car at Wyandanch. I am quite frustrated and appalled.

Shelley Graff
shelley.[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]

To whom it may concern,
On Saturday July 6th we arrived at Penn station a few minutes before the departure of our train. Because the downtown bound subway from 96th street was not operating this weekend, we were running later then expected. We tried to use one ticket machine that was clearly broken, we moved on the the next which seemed to be working, but we were unable to advance beyond the screen where you can decide on add-ons. We tried several times, but then had to run to catch to train to avoid missing it. On board the train, the conductor told us to be sure to save our tickets, and to take them to customer service in order to be refunded the difference between the station price and the onboard price. When we spoke to the customer service person at Penn station she told us that we were at fault because we should have tried more machines or gotten in a ticket line. We told her that there wasn't time for that at which point she became incredibly offensive. She told my wife that she was a bad mother and should have arrived earlier. This in front of our two young children. I have never been so mad in my life. My wife is a cancer survivor who has made unbelievable sacrifices for her children. The agent was way, way out of line. She could have said that the conductor mislead us and that your policy is never to refund the difference. She could have said it politely. She was awful and unapologetic. I left so as not to escalate the encounter and returned a few minutes later asking to speak to her supervisor. She informed me that she WAS the supervisor. I asked for her name, she said it was Brenda or Bernice (I was so angry I have forgotten); that was at 6 pm on Sunday July 7th. This person has no business being in customer service; she is an [censored].

Sincerely,
Amin Ghabrial
amin.[protected]@gmail.com

On July 3 my wife and I went to Penn Station to return home to Cedarhurst, NY
The sign listing the departing trains said Syosset 5:06 with a small sign below saying "Far Rockaway" indicating that we could transfer at Jamaica Station for the Far Rockaway train. The sign was wrong so we and many other passengers had to take the train all the way to Syosset. It was an express. To get back to our home required waiting some 40 minutes for a train back to Jamaica Station or Penn Station and then waiting for the next Far Rockaway Train. That would have take nearly 2 yours. So we found a cab and for $70 plus tip we were taken to Cedarurst. We are requesting that LIRR management investigate this error and in addition reimburse us for the$70 cab ride.

06/03/2019
Client ID 1202674
CTG/Sarah Ventures Car #164
Complaint Reference # [protected]
I had a 6:10 pick up with access a ride I am subscription passenger ID# 1202674 everyday 6:10 am pick up. My trip was assigned to a broker service Sarah Ventures Car # 164. I was picked up @ 06:18 am and the driver told me I have another pick up. I said as long as I am not late to work. Driver said I am not late I have a 30 minute window. I said I did not say you were late I said as long as I am not late to work. We proceed uptown, for 1.9 miles I work downtown. At 6:26 am drivers phone rings and he speaks a different language. The pick up is on 180th and valentine ave. The pick up is 2050 Valentine Ave. It is now 6:30 am driver calls passenger who said I be right there. Then calls back whoever he was talking too in the other language. @ 6:33 am he calls the passenger again who and said Mame I have to go he was screaming. The passenger said she is on the elevator I have to take the elevator. Once he hung up with her he click right back over to the other person he was talking to. Passenger got in the car at 6:35 am. All this time he is still on the phone. At 6:41 we got on the highway I asked can we close the window and put on the air the driver responded no I can't. I said the nose on the highway makes the plates and screws in my head resonate. The driver just sucked his teeth. I closed my window and the other passenger closed hers. the entire trip he was driving and talking on the phone. I Arrived at my job at 6:56 am feeling unsteady on my feet and my legs like noodles due to the noise on the high way. The driver was on his phone from 6:16 am to 6:56 am the entire ride on speaker. Is this how handicapped /disabled people are treated by what is suppose to take the place of the inaccessible mass transit system for us in New York City? I think not. If this driver shows up for me again I am calling the police

ID # 1202674
On Wednesday 06/26/2019 I had a scheduled pick up for 5:34 pm.
I was not picked up until 6:08 pm I was on the phone with access a ride for 33 minutes and then I finally got picked up at 6:09 pm. I am hemiplegic standing outside for over a half hour. This is how access a ride treats handicapped people.
I fully intend to complain to everyone from the governor on down.

This is a copy below of the email I sent the Americans with disabilities act:

Access a ride ( NYC Para transit authority )treats disabled and handicapped people like we are dumb. I had Brain surgery on my right temporal lobe, leaving me with left side weakness and coordination and balance issues. This made me eligible for access a ride. With access a ride I have been left standing on the street for more than an hour waiting on the alleged ride that was allegedly coming. I have been in a care on 05/08/2019 for more than 3 hours for a ride that took 40 minutes to get to initially. Not allowed to stop for the bathroom and then when you complain I was once told "Your only paying $2.75. Since my initial complaint I have been picked up late regularly my job is on the line. Access a ride is a shared ride system because NYC transit system is inaccessible for disabled people. It is supposed to be a door to door shared ride system. Well let me list the things that I have endured.
1. Being forced to cross 4 lanes of traffic because the driver arrived on the wrong side of the street
2. Being in a forced to sit in a car for almost 4 hours just because one of their subcontractors doesn't pay the drivers tolls.
3. being stuck in a car for almost 4 hours and told we are that they go by mileage and the drivers often take routes that keep you in the car longer than you should be.
4. Being in a car for hours and told they can not allow you to go to the bathroom. Why if I was able to take the train I would get off.
5. They often give subcontractors the job called broker service and this people treat us like animals herding us in the cars, with every seat filled sometimes a Toyota camary with 3 people in the back and one in the front. They don't move unless the care is full and do not care about your promised appointment time.
6. These broker services have 2-3 pick ups at the same time or within 2-5 minutes and the pick ups are often miles apart they know they are not going to make it.
Finally if disabled and handicapped people being treated like cattle for transportation purposes is not ADA worthy of a complaint, Please send me the resources to be the voice in the wilderness for them. I have had this service less than 90 days and it is bad how they treat people but we have no voice. Signed your friendly neighborhood disabled working nurse.

I usually ride the far Rockaway train from Atlanta terminal. My destination is locus Manor. This morning on 6/27/19 the ticket machine was only giving the Atlantic ticket and $5 metro cards. It would have cost me $10.50 instead $5 to get to my destination.
So, I boarded the train and purchased the ticket from a conductor for $5.25, he refused to give me a recite for my purchase. He stated he was supposed to sell me a ticket for $14. Then I would have to go the Corp. office for my reimbursement.
When I asked for my recite, again he refused
to give me the recite. He said, "I was lucky I got the ticket for $5.25." I think he kept the money for himself. The conductor is a Caucasian male, 6ft. Tall in his 50's.
He rode in the front cars. The time was 12:19 am to Far rockaway it left the station at 12:21am. on 6/27/19
There were at least 8 other people who had the same issue. Looks like an easy $40-$45 to me. Thank you for your time.
Respectfully, A loyal Long Island Rail Road rider. Curtis Brown [protected]

As of july 1, the far rockaway branch is losing 2 of its 3 direct trains in the evening..We only have 3 direct trains..Long beach has 8 direct trains from 3:52 to 6:13pm...I do not understand how you could take 2 of our 3 trains away...Full fare still being paid...We lost the 5:32 last summer and that was bad enough...This summer you have decided to screw us with taking away 2 of our direct trains...

I was about to board the 6:16 train from Penn Station to Oyster Bay (train #564) on track 16 when at exactly 6:16, the door was closing. I had just made my way through a crowd of people standing in the way trying to board their train on track 15 and several people in the same situation as I, asked the conductor if he could open the doors and he angrily replied no. I understood and stood waiting on the track until they announced the next train but 5 minutes later the train had not left penn station. It was parked on the track due to a smoke situation ahead.
After 3-4 more minutes, the door opened and several people exited the train. The conductor started yelling and cursing "I don't f*cking care what you do. you want to get on, get on. You want to get off, get the f*ck off". I was shocked because none of us on the platform had said anything to him. I had actually walked away from his window several minutes before because he had been so rude at the initial request. He continued to curse saying he didn't "know what the f*ck was going on. Do whatever the f*ck you want". I chose not to get on the train aa did two others but 3 people jumped on.
I didn't want to be late to my son's graduation but waa certainly not going to get on a train with this very angry conductor who had been so disrespectful to the riders.
I get it, it isn't easy dealing with commuters and in 10 years of riding the LIRR, have encountered rude staff and commuters but try not to engage. I am not that person BUT tonight, i felt the need to write because NEVER have i seen such terrible treatment of people for no reason. There were several witnesses on and off the train who were left bewildered by this conductor's behavior. Yes, he had a bad day. Yes, i am sure he has had people talk down to him or angry commuters get in hia face but tonight, with this group of people, this waa not the case. He took hia frustration out on us and I will not allow that to go without some acknowledgment of his attitude and completely unprofessional nature.
I actually took a moment and asked why he waa cursing and he said "I am not cursing at you. They could do whatever the f*ck they want". This is uncalled for.
Please post on how i could pursue this further. I do not feel comfortable taking this train if he is the conductor. His rage was beyond explainable.

Today, 6/25 I was in the second to last car on 7:12 from Huntington to Penn. I had a window seat. I fell asleep and woke up wet. The window was leaking and the entire ride side of my Gucci skirt was wet. The skirt is dry clean only. The skirt has dried and I have water stains on my skirt. At a minimum, the LIRR should reimburse me for cleaning bill. I am hoping skirt is not destroyed. Please let me know how to to proceed. Thank you!

Susan Catalano
[protected]
[protected]@gmail.com

Saturday, June 22nd on 8.05pm train to Hempstead the last 2 cars of only a 8 car train were closed forcing paying passengers to stand. There is absolutely no reason for people to stand or to have 2 cars closed on a busy Saturday evening when people are returning home to LI after spending the day in the city. As a daily commuter on LIRR and monthly ticket holder I find it extremely offensive to have to stand because the conductor is to lazy to walk the entire length of train.

I was on the LIRR train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma that experienced a 10 minute delay at Jamaica at 10:36 PM on Friday 6/21 due to a medical emergency with a passenger. This information was provided to all the passengers promptly and it was reassuring to see a team of MTA police and support staff on the scene quickly. The individual with the emergency was on the platform and after a few minutes did not seem in much distress. What could have been perceived as a competent and professional response was then altered as I watched one of the attending officers pull his medical gloves off and discard them by throwing them towards the vacant well for track 7. One glove made it to the well and was quickly out of site, the other did not make it on the initial toss and lay on the platform. There are two things that are very bad about this: 1) these gloves should have been treated as regulated medical waste, and even if there were no readily available appropriate disposal containers just discarding them in a public space is unacceptable; 2) as we are all aware, the perception of the cleanliness of LIRR trains is an issue. I certainly get upset when I see other customers that do not take their litter or are otherwise disrespectful of the facilities. But, how on earth can you expect the customers to be respectful when a professional MTA representative treats his workplace like a dump.
I wish I had been able to get the officer's badge, but if you have a record of who responded they should all be counseled on this situation. None of the others called him out for discarding the gloves in this manner, and indeed one of the others kicked the glove that was lying on the platform onto the tracks as they were preparing to leave.

1. The prior train (6:08 am) ALWAYS sits on Track 2 approx 10 mins early.
Our train (6:24 am) ALWAYS pulls in on Track 1 almost at the last minute, with folks barely making it in the doors before they close! As Track 1 is empty from 5:42 am, why can't the 6:24 sit on Track 1 at least 10 mins early ?

2. And it almost ALWAYS opens the doors to the south side and takes Forever to open on the the north side. Not nice, esp when it's raining, snowing, etc. How about opening north side 50% of the time, At the Very Least?

I take the 6:49 am train from Valley Stream every day. Today I left my house the same time I always do, parked, walked up the steps, and at 6:49am watched the train I always take already pulling away from the station. As expensive as it is to take the LIRR one should be able to expect some quality and consistency. I understand when a train is delayed (which happens all the time) and deal with the less than ideal overcrowding and dirty conditions of the trains, but find it unacceptable for a train to leave before the regular passengers get a chance to board.