LI pols weigh in on MTA Penn Station plan

Eight Long Island state senators are urging MTA chairman Joseph Lhota to abandon a proposal to run Metro-North trains in and out of Penn Station, saying the move would increase congestion and decrease LIRR service at an already overcrowded portal.

But the signature of a key legislator -- Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the Senate majority leader -- is absent from the correspondence to Lhota dated Tuesday.

"Cutting LIRR service into Penn Station is a serious concern, given that the LIRR accounts for approximately 75 percent of the station's weekday train traffic," read the letter, adding that more people travel through the station than all three major local airports combined. "Further reducing this number by giving away track space to Metro-North trains would greatly impair LIRR operations and reduce service for LIRR riders."

The letter, which was drafted and distributed by Transportation Committee chairman Sen. Charles J. Fuschillo (R-Merrick) comes a few days after Newsday reported that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was thinking about operating Metro-North Railroad trains into Penn Station.

The move would direct an estimated 28,000 more commuters into the nation's busiest train station each weekday if the so-called Penn Station Access plan is implemented.

Skelos could not be reached for comment.

An MTA spokesman, Sam Zambuto, said: "We will not be commenting on the letter. We will be providing a written response via letter to the legislators."

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

A 2002 MTA report estimated Metro-North's potential weekday ridership to and from Penn at about 28,000.

The plan would force the LIRR, Amtrak and NJ Transit to accommodate another fleet of trains while sharing the 21 tracks in Penn unless the station is expanded. The LIRR might have to reduce the number of trains it operates from the terminal.