LIRR on-time record doesn't add up
Commuters waiit for a LIRR train at Jamaica Station. (May 9, 2011) Credit: Howard Schnapp
When I boarded my Long Island Rail Road train this morning, the monthly propaganda flyer was on the seat. The last item noted that on-time performance for the month of May was 94.04 percent. It was during May that the Amtrak train derailed in the tunnel to Penn Station, causing extensive delays and cancellations on the LIRR for four days. I guess that the railroad does not count the late trains from those days in their compilation.
I think that on-time performance should be based on the published schedule. If a train was on the schedule, it should be included even if it was canceled. Anyone who rides the railroad on a regular basis knows that on-time performance is less than the numbers reported by the railroad.
Robert P. DeMarco, Wantagh
