Expect more crowded, dirtier LIRR

Long Island Rail Road customers soon can expect more crowded trains, fewer places to buy tickets from agents and dirtier stations as the MTA Thursday unveiled another round of cuts aimed at putting a dent in its nearly $400-million deficit.

The railroad expects to save $20 million this year through the proposed budget reductions that LIRR president Helena Williams said are designed to have "low to moderate" impact on customers.

The new cutbacks, which could begin as early as late summer, include reducing the number of cars on some morning rush-hour and weekend trains by two cars, eliminating ticket offices at Port Jefferson, Patchogue and Amityville, and less-frequent cleaning of train stations and cars.

Nearly 103,000 tickets were sold last year at the ticket windows of those three stations - 37,693 in Port Jefferson, 35,505 in Patchogue and 29,731 in Amityville, according to the railroad.

"That's the first face of the company, so it is a difficult and painful choice when we close ticket windows," Williams said. The LIRR closed 20 ticket offices last year. With the additional closings, only 27 of the LIRR's 124 stations will have staffed ticket windows.

Ticket offices in Hempstead, Atlantic Terminal and Long Beach also will have fewer hours and less staffing.

The LIRR will eliminate another 100 jobs as part of the most recent cuts. Across the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, another 1,000 jobs will be lost, bringing the total number since the MTA began making its cuts last year to more than 2,500, MTA officials said.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

Anthony Simon, general chairman of the United Transportation Union - the LIRR's largest labor group - blasted the MTA for the new round of cuts, which he said could affect security at train stations, where ticket clerks and agents are the railroad's eyes and ears.

"Who will be there to see something and say something?" Simon said, paraphrasing the MTA's safety slogan.

In total, the MTA expects to save about $115 million this year at all of its agencies through the newest cuts.

MTA officials said they could revisit some of the cuts if they create too many problems.

"It's not an exact science. We know whatever we do, we're probably going to make a mistake and miss something," said MTA chief financial officer Robert Foran.

LIRR Commuter Council chairwoman Maureen Michaels was skeptical about some of the proposed cuts and noted that fewer trains cars could mean uncomfortable rides for customers, even if they all had seats. But she commended MTA chief executive Jay Walder for aggressively looking for savings.

"The environment that we're in requires new ways of looking at old problems," Michaels said.