During storm, LIRR's Ronkonkoma line like a ghost train

The 4:54 to Farmingdale was a like a ghost train Wednesday afternoon, gliding silent and near-empty past snow-stilled suburban streets.

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Steve Johnson, 25, a pharmacist on his way home to New Hyde Park, was surprised to find fewer than a dozen passengers in his car.

"I thought the train would have been packed," said Johnson, 25. Then he looked out the window at the snow drifting downward, and reconsidered. "It's not that bad. I was expecting it to be a lot worse."

Commuters on the Ronkonkoma line seemed largely to have heeded the Long Island Rail Road's advice to leave Manhattan early, in case snow shut down the tracks. At Penn Station, the flow of passengers slowed to a trickle by 4 p.m. - a time when the rush hour crush would usually be ramping up.

The 3:55 p.m. train to Ronkonkoma looked to be about 35 percent full as it pulled out of the station.

Simon Rodkin, 58, of Plainview, seemed unconcerned as he headed down the platform. "It's nice weather, there's nothing wrong with it," said Rodkin, who is originally from Belarus. "Not a problem."

A partner at an engineering firm, Rodkin said most of his 18 employees showed up for work Wednesday, though some left early. His biggest concern: digging out the car back at the Bethpage station.

The number of passengers on the line seemed to dwindle as the afternoon wore on. The next train, the 4:54 p.m., had just a handful of passengers. They talked quietly to each other or on their mobile phones as the train chugged through Queens.

Many said they left work early to be sure of getting home.

Some said they checked for delays and canceled trains online; a few had signed up for LIRR e-mail alerts, which arrived every few minutes to announce service changes, delays and consolidations.

Peter Agati of Roslyn usually takes the 6:08 p.m. train home from his job at Paul Stuart, a clothing store on Madison Avenue. He took an earlier train Wednesday because he knew he'd be digging out his car.

He was surprised by how empty Penn Station was. "Kinda scary when I got here," he said. "I thought there were no more trains."

Agati said he wasn't worried about the drive home from the station. "I've got a Jeep," he said.

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