LIRR Service Was Back To Normal Friday Morning Despite Announcement

Long Island Rail Road said it was planning to operate a normal morning rush hour schedule on Friday, pending Amtrak's completion of the repairs needed due to the Penn Station derailment on Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority says.

Unfortunately, things did not go to plan. Ten morning rush hour trains were canceled Friday because LIRR crews did not finish track repair on time.

At a press conference on Thursday, Amtrak CEO Charles Moorman promised that Penn Station would be restored to full service by Friday morning.

Amtrak said it intended to fully return tracks to LIRR by 4 a.m., the MTA says.

For the last four days, commuters have been stranded or turned away at Penn Station because of extensive delays affecting all the trains traveling through the transit hub.

LIRR commuters have dealt with overcrowding, delays, cancellations and diverted routes on Monday evening, Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning, Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and Thursday afternoon.

A NJ Transit train derailed during Monday's rush hour, causing crippling delays to all transit agencies who travel through Penn Station, including the LIRR and Amtrak trains.

Moorman personally apologized to commuters for the multiple days of delays, which doubled some commuters' travel times. He described the damage from Monday's derailment as an "extraordinary amount of damage in a very, very confined area."

The Long Island Rail Road Commuter Council released a statement in response to Moorman's comments claiming that while they appreciate his "candor in acknowledging the maintenance challenges that Amtrak faces," the Council is concerned of the pattern of deferred maintenance.

LIRRCC Chair Mark Epstein said in the statement:

”Defects like those that led to the two recent Penn Station derailments directly threaten the lives, safety and careers of Long Island commuters. Our members are alarmed that Amtrak’s past lack of resources has created a situation where we cannot be entirely confident in the quality of Amtrak infrastructure that is shared by the LIRR. Amtrak owes it to LIRR riders to comprehensively inspect all Amtrak facilities used by the LIRR and confirm that no critical safety issues are present. If any such issues are discovered, they must be remedied immediately. In the longer term, we must hold Amtrak leadership and management, as well as our elected officials, responsible for ensuring that Amtrak has the resources necessary to bring its infrastructure to a state of good repair.”

Patch reporters Paige McAtee and Ciara McCarthy contributed to this report.

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