What’s New In Brooklyn?
A New Terminal for our Brooklyn Customers
If it looks like there’s something new growing in Brooklyn ... that's because our historic transit hub there, right where Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues meet, is blossoming into a beautiful and more functional new facility.
The new Atlantic Terminal Pavilion features a soaring atrium that allows natural lighting to reach the below-ground concourse, where LIRR customers can connect with 10 subway lines. Meanwhile, the arced vessel-shaped exterior restores a ‘civic presence’ to this busy Brooklyn neighborhood, becoming an instant landmark for travelers and residents alike. Two sweeping staircases provide direct access from the street level to the LIRR concourse and NYC Transit’s busy subway station, which together serve some 57,000 customers each day.
Final touches are being made this month, and when completed the terminal will feature a fully accessible, three-story pavilion that includes an elevator, a new customer waiting room, a new ticket office and new restrooms.

Other features include:

• Improved access to the LIRR and NYC Transit's lines 2 3 4 5 B D M N Q R
• New public address system and electronic signs that provide prompt train & track information
• Brighter lighting
• ‘Green' features, including high-performance curtain walls of glass that   let in maximum light, and shading ‘fins’ on the exterior glass wall and skylights that prevent excess heat gain during the warmer months.

“This grand new pavilion will benefit our customers for generations to come,” said LIRR President Helena Williams. “The open space and light of the interior evoke the transit terminals of past eras that properly greeted travelers at a busy hub. We’re delighted to deliver this project to Brooklyn and to our customers.”

Our History, Our Future
All of this work is being conducted within an historical context, as the LIRR had its beginning in Brooklyn back in 1834 and has served the borough for the last 175 years. Brooklyn's future is a bright one. It is a busy hub for employment, entertainment and shopping, and the LIRR’s new terminal will encourage more visitors, employers and job seekers to re-discover Brooklyn’s rich history and promise. Besides that, as you can tell from the picture, it's gonna be gorgeous! So, as we say in Brooklyn, enjoy!

Lost&Found - An Improved System
Nearly 15,000 items are turned in to the LIRR's Lost&Found office every year. By following our easy to use Lost&Found process, you will increase our ability to recover and return as many items as possible to our customers. Unfortunately, while we do our best, not all items are recovered or turned in to the Lost&Found office. If you lose an item, we ask that you visit our website and follow these easy steps:

• Review our Lost&Found “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs)
• Complete the Lost&Found Property Inquiry Form

Watch for our new educational campaign focusing on the ease and convenience of using the LIRR's Lost&Found Property Recovery System. It's scheduled to kickoff next month, and will consist of a train poster and an on-seat brochure that will also be available in stations.

New Timetables Reflect Extra Holiday Service
The new schedules that took effect on Monday, December 14 are available in terminals and stations around the system, as well as on the Railroad's website. These timetables have been issued to highlight the extra trains for the holiday season.
Christmas & New Year's Eve Trains
There will be 13 extra afternoon trains from Penn Station on Thursday, December 24 for those leaving work early on Christmas Eve ... as well as on Thursday, December 31, to serve those who are leaving early for the New Year's holiday. We will also offer additional eastbound and westbound train service to and from Penn Station for New Year's Eve festivities on December 31 and early January 1. The LIRR will operate on a holiday schedule on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25 and New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1.
Alcohol will not be allowed on LIRR trains, platforms or at stations from 12 Noon on December 31, 2009 to 12 Noon on January 1, 2010. MTA Police will enforce this restriction.

Winter Travel Tips
Winter officially arrives on Monday, December 21 ... marking the time when the storms of winter often start arriving. When they do, we may have to make some adjustments to our schedules and staffing. We’ll be making service decisions based on our expectations about each storm’s severity, and how similar storms have impacted our track, signal, and power systems in the past.  In order to help you with making decisions about traveling when these conditions exist, we suggest that you register for our free email alert system, or Twitter-@LIRRAlerts. They will provide you with alerts about service disruptions/changes.

Da Vinci at a Discount
Fascinated by Da Vinci? Who isn't? He anticipated airplanes, automobiles and bridges … and gave us the Mona Lisa. Well, we’ll help you learn more about this visionary … and save $5 off the price of admission at the same time! Just go to our website and navigate to the Railroad's NYC Getaways pages for the details. The Da Vinci Workshop Getaway is at the Discovery Times Square Exposition, 226 W. 44th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. It doesn’t take a genius like Da Vinci to know that you shouldn’t pass up this opportunity.

On Time Performance (OTP)
November's OTP came in at 95.28% .. our 7th record-setting monthly OTP this year ... and a big improvement over our previous best-ever-November total, which was set in 2001. November’s good showing puts the total On Time Performance for the first 11 months at a record-setting 95.52%.

BRANCH	AM Peak	PM Peak	Off- Peak	Total November 2009	Total November 2008
Babylon	97.4	92.0	94.2	94.5	91.8
Far Rockaway	98.2	100.0	98.4	98.6	95.2
Hicksville/Huntington	96.0	92.5	95.3	95.1	92.1
Hempstead	97.0	96.1	98.4	98.0	94.2
Long Beach	99.2	95.5	96.4	96.7	93.7
Montauk	92.5	90.0	89.3	89.8	89.9
Oyster Bay	97.9	92.5	94.9	95.1	88.4
Port Jefferson	96.3	91.4	92.0	92.6	86.7
Port Washington	98.6	95.0	97.2	97.1	97.2
Greenport/Ronkonkoma	92.8	94.0	92.4	92.7	89.2
West Hempstead	99.0	99.2	96.6	97.3	96.4
TOTAL	96.8	94.1	95.2	95.3	92.6

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