LIRR still selling tickets and charging $10 refund fees

Upon opening the MTA Train Time app Saturday, users received a warning that train service is suspended because of the ongoing strike.

Despite the alert, the app and ticket vending machines across the island continued authorizing ticket sales.

At the Wyandanch station Saturday morning, a man fed $27 in cash into a machine and took a ticket from the receptacle, unaware that no trains were running.

Customers who unknowingly bought tickets during the strike shutdown could be stuck paying for transportation they can't use after new policies took effect in January.

Both paper and mobile tickets expire at 4 a.m. the day after purchasing, a far shorter window than the previous 60-day validity period.

One-way and day pass tickets are nonrefundable, except within a tight grace period: paper tickets can be refunded with no fee within 30 minutes of purchase at a ticketing window, and mobile tickets can be refunded within two minutes of purchase if they have not been activated, according to the MTA’s policy. 

Monthly and weekly tickets can be refunded, but are subject to $10 administrative fees, according to the MTA.

“We intend to issue prorated refunds to May monthly ticket holders for any business day that service is suspended due to the strike, pending board approval,” the MTA posted on its website. No details were available on how to seek refunds for those tickets.

An MTA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Newsday inquiry about whether there are plans to suspend ticket sales or waive the refund policy and fees due to the strike.