LIRR back on normal service Thursday morning

Long Island Rail Road riders were back on their regular routines for the most part Thursday, with  trains running on schedule.

As of 8:30 a.m., the  Web site for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority  was showing "good service"  for all of the major LIRR lines.

However, at some stations, the tough part for early riders was getting to the train.

The platforms at the Farmingdale and Bethpage stations hadn't been cleared of snow, so early-morning commuters broke their own paths through ankle-deep snow to wait for trains.

At Farmingdale, stairs to the platform were still covered in snow and ice,  and commuters clung to handrails as they inched up or down.

Once in the city, morning riders were confronted with delays along the B, D, F, V lines; the J, M, Z lines; and the N, Q, R and W lines.

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On Wednesday, the LIRR moved the start of rush hour to early afternoon and threatened to stop running trains if the snow piled up too high.

If the  railroad's intention was to frighten commuters into leaving work early and going home to beat the last punch of a mighty snowstorm, it was successful, riders said.

"The scare tactics worked," Arthur Garcia, 46, a tax attorney from Freeport, said as he waited for the 2:12 p.m. train Wednesday. While some of his co-workers planned to stay in Manhattan overnight, he said, "The Long Islanders were getting out."

The LIRR and Long Island Bus  both reported substantially fewer riders on Wednesday.  Morning LIRR ridership was down 46.3 percent from 6 to 11 a.m. compared with an average weekday, railroad officials said.

Long Island Bus also had a "lot less people" on board than usual, spokesman Jerry Mikorenda said.

At Penn Station, rush hour came several hours early as commuters anxiously studied schedule boards in the early afternoon.

By 5:30 p.m., only about 50 people mingled in Penn's  waiting area.

"Anytime I am here, it's packed," said Lori Weisenberg-Catalano, 55, of Roslyn Heights, adding that the desolation was a rare treat. "This is very meager. When they announce a track, there is a usually a swoosh of people. That's not happening. It's a pleasure."

Peter Agati of Roslyn was surprised by the station's emptiness.

"Kinda scary when I got here," said Agati, who works at Paul Stuart, a Madison Avenue clothing store. "I thought there were no more trains."

The LIRR estimated at 4 p.m. that it already had taken 65 percent of the day's commuters back home.

The flow of commuters at Penn Station slowed to a relative trickle by late afternoon. The 3:55 p.m. train to Ronkonkoma looked to be only about 35 percent full. The next train, the 4:24 p.m., was even emptier.

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."

More than a dozen LIRR employees in orange reflector vests were stationed throughout Penn Station with clipboards to answer questions from commuters.

John Sullivan, 48, a banker from Manhasset, had two things on his mind: Beat the blizzard and get to Florida -- fast.

Sullivan usually takes the 6:20 p.m. train home on the Port Washington Branch. But a vacation in West Palm Beach beckoned and he was waiting for the 1:49 p.m. train.

"It was time to get home," Sullivan said. "When the railroad says it's putting extra trains on between 1 and 4 and later service could be suspended, that's pretty much a signal."

Sullivan was still planning to catch an 8 a.m. Thursday flight out of Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma to West Palm Beach.

Bruce Phillip, 43, a civil engineer from Valley Stream, seemed delighted at his early getaway on the 2:06 p.m. train on the Babylon Branch. He usually leaves for home between 4:30 and 5 p.m., he said.

"The inclement weather pretty much told me it was time to go home," Phillip said.

Nigel Margetson, 43, of Freeport, an equities trader at HSBC in midtown, was told by his bosses to go home early around 1 p.m. to beat the weather.

"People started talking about leaving work early as soon as we got there," he said. "People were worried about the weather. I figured it wouldn't be a problem getting in. I was worried about getting out. At work, they decided to let people who live in Connecticut and Long Island leave early."

At the LIRR station in Jamaica in the middle of the afternoon, most commuters said they were finding fewer problems than they had anticipated.

"It looks like I got lucky," said Larry Slater, 49, who was happy that his 2 p.m. train to East Northport was on time. "Everyone is trying to make sure they got home before the big storm hits."

Charles Cuthbert, 67, of Westbury, said he was one of many people to cut out early from his job as an engineer in Manhattan. "The snow looked really heavy, and we heard some [train] services might be stopped," he said.

As late as 3:30 p.m., trains were running frequently and on time in both directions.

"I was afraid my train would be canceled, but it's not that bad at all," said Robert Faulk, 36, of New Hyde Park, who was returning home from his job as a court officer in Kew Gardens. "If I catch my train, I'll be home free. Except I have to shovel later."

It was not a good day for at least one eastbound LIRR rider.

Mike Juidice, 20, stood in a corner of the nearly empty Ronkonkoma station Wednesday afternoon, waiting for a bus to Medford.

He had been waiting for several hours.

His train, one of the few that goes east to Greenport, was replaced with a bus because of the weather.

His other problem was that he missed the 8:43 a.m. train out of Deer Park, and the next eastbound train was too late to make the East End shuttle.

"I'm just trying to get home," Juidice said. "I've been here 31/2 hours. It's pretty boring."

LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said LIRR workers were out in large numbers, clearing snow from platforms and answering questions from commuters at major stations. Work trains also were out coating the electrified third rail with a special solution to prevent icing.

The LIRR had canceled 17 eastbound trains out of Penn Station during the normal evening peak in advance of the snowstorm.

Long Island Bus changed all limited-service bus routes to local service as a "customer courtesy," spokesman Jerry Mikorenda said.

"This is so customers are not left out in the cold for a long period waiting for their local bus and can get on the first available one that comes by," he said.

At Penn Station, LIRR rider Bruce Almeida, 37, a Manhattan structural designer who lives in Shoreham, waited eagerly for the 1:58 p.m. train on the Ronkonkoma line; he usually catches either the 5:21 p.m. or the 6:33 p.m. train.

And what about digging out his car when he gets to the station?

Almeida grinned.

"I keep the car in a garage," he said.

With Alfonso Castillo, Mitchell Freedman, Ann Givens, Pervaiz Shallwani, Jennifer Smith and John Valenti