Thiele Calls on LIRR to Provide Additional Service to East End

In response to reports of overcrowding on the Cannonball Express train to the Hamptons, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr, (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced he has called on the LIRR to provide additional service to the East End.

The Cannonball Express is a train that runs from May to September taking passengers directly from Penn Station to the Hamptons.

The train makes stops in Westhampton, Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and Montauk.

Last week, CBS2 News released a report on the heavy overcrowding on the train on Monday which led to a discussion of the issue during a meeting with the Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday afternoon.

Thiele has been a long- time advocate of additional train service for the East End, spearheading efforts to improve public transit on the East End, including a proposal to institute regular shuttle trains on both the South Fork and the North Fork, according to a press release from Thiele’s office.

The State Legislature had included $37.2 million in the MTA Capital Plan to purchase the necessary smaller diesel equipment that would make the shuttle possible, however the MTA has not taken steps to implement the service, according to the release.

“The East End has clamored for years to increase service through the implementation of an integrated rail/bus shuttle network for the East End, including the state-funded Volpe Study, which demonstrated the viability of shuttle trains,” Thiele said.

According to Thiele, the shuttle was proven possible option during a successful pilot project conducted by the LIRR during the reconstruction of CR-39 and in response, the Legislature provided the funding for the equipment.

“Unfortunately, the MTA and the LIRR have done nothing. In the meantime, the limited service that is currently being provided is overcrowded and our local roads are choked with traffic,” he said. ”The result is unsafe train conditions and increased accidents on our local roads. The LIRR can no longer ignore the needs of the East End.”

Thiele called on the MTA and the LIRR to take immediate action, asking them to add more express trains to the South Fork so that the safety of the public is “no longer in jeopardy during the summer season” and focusing on the issue of shuttle trains so that these trains can be made available in 2016, according to the release.

He also added that if the MTA and LIRR continue to ignore the needs of the East End, he, together with the five East End Towns, would pursue the concept of creating a Peconic Bay Transportation Authority, similar to that which was established for Cape Code, in order to provide the needed service.

The LIRR stated that they cannot add more cars to the train or run additional expresses because of equipment and scheduling limitations, and must sometimes limit boarding at Penn Station before the Cannonball departs, according to a press release from the MTA on Thursday.

“We certainly hope that everyone who wants to board the Cannonball can do so,” LIRR President Patrick A. Nowakowski said in the press release.