LIRR estimates $52M in cuts

An estimated $52 million in cuts that the Long Island Rail Road must make could mean a reduction in the number of cars on some trains and changes in certain work rules, LIRR president Helena Williams told the Long Island Regional Planning Council Tuesday.

"I have to tell you this is extraordinarily painful," Williams told the council, which had invited her to speak about how the railroad is handling the fiscal crisis.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, of which the LIRR is a part, already had adopted a budget with drastic service reductions and employee cuts. Then, the agency learned it was facing another $400-million shortfall because of lower-than-expected tax revenue and reduced state aid. The $52 million is a portion of that total shortfall.

Williams called the $52 million in further cutbacks a "significant challenge."

"We'll do it through reductions in overtime, in reductions in the size of our trains," she said. "We'll do it through project deferral, and we are looking at those work rules that we don't have to negotiate over."

She was not specific about which projects could be affected or which work rules were being reviewed.