LIRR morning commute off to smooth start - with some exceptions

On the first day back to work after last week's nightmarish disruptions, commuters packed Long Island Rail Road cars, the agency's president offered them thanks for putting up with the delays, and hundreds of LIRR union members rallied to protest the scheduled layoffs of workers, many of whom helped get the railroad up and running again.

Fire significantly damaged the station's century-old switching system and caused nearly a full workweek of train cancellations and delays until the LIRR restored full service Sunday afternoon.

Spokesman Joe Calderone said the LIRR has already begun an "after incident review" of last week's fire and its aftermath.

Many commuters who were forced to wait for hours for delayed trains or find another way to and from work were grateful to have their regular service back.

"It looks a lot better today," said Jackie Pennisi, 40, of New Hyde Park at Penn Station. "It's less crowded. Last week, the whole platform was crowded and nobody knew where they were going. So far, so good."

LIRR president Helena Williams greeted commuters Monday morning at the Mineola station and thanked them for putting up with a week of delays and cancellations.

Williams said she decided to stop at Mineola on her way into her Jamaica offices to express "the Long Island Rail Road's appreciation" and to get feedback from customers on how the agency handled last week's problems.

"People said to me that it made it a little bit of rough week for them," said Williams, who heard from several customers about the importance of communicating with them during a major service disruption. "There's some fine-tuning I think I need to do on that."

Several commuters said they appreciated the head of the nation's largest commuter railroad thanking them in person. One even had her autograph her MTA system map. But others were a bit cynical about Williams' gesture.

"I guess it was a serious enough problem that they felt they needed to come out and do some damage control," said Stephanie Hickson, 37, of Garden City.

Commuters returning to the Mineola station Monday afternoon were greeted by hundreds of LIRR union workers. Many blasted MTA management for laying off the same workers they said saved the system over the last week.

"Once again, we carried the brunt of a difficult time," said United Transportation Union general chairman Anthony Simon, speaking to an impassioned crowd of LIRR labor members. "It was the rank and file, not the executives."

About 400 members of 11 different unions gathered at Mineola to protest the LIRR's planned service cuts and layoffs next month. Wearing T-shirts with the message "LIRR Labor Unions Fight Back," the laborers chanted "hell no, we won't go!" as union leaders called for MTA managers to cut their six-figure salaries before axing blue-collar workers.

One of the biggest ovations went to Christopher Natale, chairman of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, whose membership was critical in keeping the LIRR running even without a functioning switching and signal system at the Jamaica station.

"And what do they do to reward you for your hard work? They hand you a pink slip," said Natale, whose membership stands to lose 25 members to layoffs.

In a statement, Calderone said the layoffs come only after the LIRR has worked to close the MTA's $900-million deficit through overtime reductions, reduced administrative overhead, and service cuts.

"As we run fewer trains, we need fewer crews. No one likes layoffs. We know they are painful for our employees and their families. We are hopeful the economy will pick up and enable us to bring back these employees," said Calderone, adding that last week's fire highlighted the need for dedicated state and federal aid to "maintain and modernize the transportation system that keeps our region moving."

With Sophia Chang, Pervaiz Shallwani and John Valenti