Trains breaking down less, LIRR says

Long Island Rail Road trains are breaking down less than ever before, according to the railroad's latest fleet reliability figures.

LIRR train cars traveled 169,724 miles between breakdowns on average last year -- about 20,000 miles farther than in 2010, and 20,000 miles better than the agency's goal for the year.

The fleet's 2011 "mean distance between failures" -- a key performance measure for railroads -- was the best the agency has ever recorded, spokesman Sam Zambuto said. The statistic has steadily increased over the past several years, and has more than tripled from about 52,000 miles in 2005.

The railroad's M-7 electric cars, which make up about 71 percent of the 1,165 engines and coaches in the fleet, were the most reliable on the rails, traveling a mean distance of 431,125 miles between breakdowns. That was an improvement of about 24 percent from the M-7's 2010 performance, the LIRR said.

Metro-North Railroad, the LIRR's sister railroad in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, did not fare as well, averaging 114,347 miles on average between failures in 2011 -- a drop of nearly 6 percent from the previous year.

Metro-North's fleet is generally older than that of the LIRR. Only about 29 percent of Metro-North's fleet are M-7s, which are 10 years old or less. Zambuto said trains on Metro-North's New Haven line suffered considerable weather-related damage early in 2011.

On the LIRR, the overall average is hurt by the breakdown-prone diesel and dual-mode engines, which together comprise about 5 percent of the fleet. There are 23 diesel engines and 22 dual-modes, locomotives that can switch between diesel and electric power.

SEE PHOTOSLIRR trains and commuters through the years

While those engines go far fewer miles between breakdowns than the electric cars -- last year, the dual-modes' mean distance between failures was 18,781 miles -- the performance of both improved in 2011 over 2010.

The only category of vehicle that did worse than the previous year was the fleet's C-3 coach cars on bi-level diesel trains. They slipped from about 77,000 miles between failures to about 65,000 last year.

Michael Gelormino, the railroad's senior vice president of operations, said that drop was largely because of problems with computer errors on door mechanisms. Those troubles are being addressed, he said.

The fleet's overall improvement is a testament to several initiatives to improve reliability, said Gelormino, who previously headed the LIRR's equipment maintenance program.

A key change was creation of a specialized task force of employees from LIRR's equipment maintenance and engineering departments who meet regularly. The team allows train engineers, who experience the breakdowns firsthand, to work side-by-side with maintenance teams to diagnose problems and come up with creative solutions.

"For [engineers] to take part in failure reviews and trend analysis is a very big help," Gelormino said. "They're voicing their perspective and they're definitely having input."

Through the task force effort, LIRR employees have suggested several equipment modifications that have boosted reliability. On the suggestion of one employee, the LIRR designed a special filter to keep snow out of the engine compartment of diesel locomotives, resulting in fewer breakdowns, Gelormino said.

The LIRR posted the record reliability figures despite several major weather-related service disruptions last year, Gelormino said.

LIRR Commuter Council chairman Mark Epstein said he would like the agency to set higher goals for reliability.

"We acknowledge the hard work of the LIRR maintenance crews in keeping the rapidly aging fleet up and running," Epstein said. "This is but one piece of the puzzle that is the riders' daily commute. And as fares increase, so do commuters' expectations, and rightfully so."

He noted that the LIRR in 2009 significantly lowered its goal for mean distance between failures for the dual-mode locomotives, from 30,000 miles to 18,000. That is where the dual-mode locomotives' goal remains today.

Gelormino said the goal was lowered in 2009 because 30,000 miles was deemed unrealistic.

Epstein said he could not recall the last time he was on a train that broke down, but noted that the LIRR still struggles with on-time performance. In 2011, LIRR trains were punctual 93.71 percent of the time, according to MTA figures.