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New Timetables in Effect May 14
New schedules will be in effect starting May 14 that include service restorations on the Port Washington Branch, summer service to the East End, along with timetable adjustments related to work on the East Side Access Project and state-of-good-repair maintenance.

Port Washington Branch: Half-hourly midday service will be restored on weekdays. Eastbound trains will depart Penn Station at 19 minutes past the hour from 9:19 AM through 3:19 PM in addition to the existing trains at 49 minutes past the hour. Westbound trains will depart Port Washington at 40 minutes past the hour from 9:40 AM through 3:40 PM in addition to current departures at 10 minutes past the hour.

To accommodate East Side Access overhead steel and tunneling work in Queens, four late-night weekend trains on the Hempstead, Long Beach and Port Washington branches will be adjusted to allow contractors to perform their work without interference from passing trains. As a result, two eastbound trains will depart 15 minutes later, one eastbound train will depart 15 minutes earlier and one westbound train will operate 30 minutes later to create the necessary work windows.

Starting May 14, summer construction projects will affect off-peak schedules on the Far Rockaway, Hempstead, Long Beach, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, and Ronkonkoma branches. In addition, cable replacement work will affect some late night trains operating between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal. New branch timetables dated May 14-September 3, 2012 will be available at LIRR terminals and outlying stations in early May. Please pick up a copy of the new timetable for complete details.

 

A Big Bonus for New Mail&Ride Customers (and Mets Fans)
Mail&Ride is the easy, convenient way to receive your monthly LIRR commutation ticket and now there’s another great reason to be a Mail&Ride customer, especially if you’re a Mets fan and like good food. 

The NY Mets and Strawberry’s Sports Grill in Douglaston (yes, that’s the restaurant owned by former Mets star Darryl Strawberry) have teamed up to provide a pair of tickets to a Mets game and a $15 gift card to Strawberry’s to LIRR customers who join Mail&Ride during the month of May 2012. 

For further details on this great Mets/Strawberry’s promotion, check out www.mailandride.com. While you’re there, see how easy it is to join fellow LIRR commuters who are already receiving their tickets the easy Mail&Ride way.

 

LIRR On Time Performance (OTP) Sets Records
A continued focus on providing the best service possible and a mild winter were among the factors contributing to a system-wide On-Time Performance record for the first three months of 2012 – with 96.17 percent of all LIRR trains arriving at their destinations on schedule. Each of the first three months in 2012 had total system-wide OTP stats of more then 96 percent.

The LIRR also achieved 100 percent OTP for 16 rush hours in the first quarter of 2012 – thirteen in the morning and three in the evening. Fleet reliability is a key ingredient in the success of the LIRR’s on-time performance. LIRR trains have attained record-levels for mean distance between failures (MDBF) – with a 12-month rolling average of 169,724 miles between breakdowns. 

We promise to continue our efforts to meet and exceed our OTP goals in order to provide you with the service you expect as an LIRR customer.

 

Shhush!! Silence is Golden
By now, many customers are probably aware that the LIRR has adopted and expanded its Quiet Car pilot program. 

As a reminder, all peak (AM and PM) trains on the Far Rockaway Branch now have a designated Quiet Car, including those operating to and from Penn Station. In addition, now the Hempstead, Long Beach and West Hempstead Branches have Quiet Cars on AM and PM peak trains to/from Atlantic Terminal. The west end car (first car on AM peak trains; last car on PM peak trains) is the designated Quiet Car. Customers in the Quiet Cars are asked to refrain from using cell phones and to disable the sound on all electronic devices, including computers. 

If headphones are used, they must kept be at a low volume that cannot be heard by surrounding customers. Customers can converse in the Quiet Cars but they must use subdued voices. The LIRR Quiet Car Program is voluntary in nature with customers self-enforcing. Conductors in designated Quiet Cars will hand out special “Shhush” cards to customers who are non-compliant. So far, the LIRR Quiet Car Program has received a positive response and we will continue to monitor customer reaction to determine its future course.

 

Smart Phone Users Take Note
The MTA mobile device address has changed to m.mta.info. If you bookmarked our previous mobile device URL of mta.info (including Train Time, Schedules, Fares, Service Status, etc.), it is no longer valid. Bookmark the new address. This change will let us offer more "on the go" service information in the future.

 

Take The LIRR to Belmont
The Long Island Rail Road is the way to go for horse racing fans eager to cheer their favorites on to victory during Belmont Park’s Spring Meet, which starts April 27.  The LIRR will provide regular eastbound service to Belmont in time for the first race at 1 PM, and westbound service after the last race. There’s no racing on Mondays and Tuesdays. For train service details, pick up a copy of the LIRR’s Belmont Park timetable.

 

Monthly OTP BRANCH	AM Peak	PM Peak	Off- Peak	Total March 2012	Total March 2011
Babylon	96.7%	96.9%	95.7%	96.0%	95.1%
Far Rockaway	93.4%	95.5%	98.2%	97.2%	98.0%
Hicksville/Huntington	95.2%	93.5%	95.8%	95.4%	94.8%
Hempstead	97.7%	97.0%	97.9%	97.7%	98.0%
Long Beach	95.5%	94.6%	97.6%	96.9%	96.7%
Montauk	93.2%	94.7%	94.8%	94.5%	92.2%
Oyster Bay	97.4%	95.5%	96.5%	96.5%	96.9%
Port Jefferson	90.3%	91.6%	95.2%	93.9%	93.7%
Port Washington	95.2%	96.9%	98.5%	97.6%	97.3%
Ronkonkoma/Greenport	92.2%	96.8%	93.5%	93.7%	92.4%
West Hempstead	96.4%	95.5%	97.6%	97.0%	98.1%
TOTAL	95.0%	95.7%	96.4%	96.1%	95.6%

 

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