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Overcast Schumer calls on LIRR to 'recommit' to riders
Proposes bill of rights to ensure comfort, safety for commuters
The cost of a monthly Long Island Rail Road pass from West Hempstead to Manhattan is $223. From Rockville Centre, it’s $254. For that amount of money, LIRR commuters should not have to sit in packed, idling train cars for up to three hours, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said last week.
Schumer called on the LIRR on Oct. 10 to establish a commuters’ bill of rights, similar to the passenger’s bill of rights that was created for the airline industry in 2009. His proposal came on the heels of a major disruption that left many commuters seething: On Sept. 29, lighting caused signal problems at Jamaica Station, delaying trains up to three hours. According to Schumer, in at least seven cases, trains were left idling between stations and, according to LIRR officials, at least two passengers evacuated the trains onto the tracks — a dangerous and illegal move that leaders in the transportation industry denounced.
That was only the latest in a series of service disruptions that have plagued the LIRR, Schumer said, adding that the railroad “needs to recommit itself to a base level of service for the price commuters pay to ride the system.”
In a letter to LIRR President Helena Williams, Schumer requested that the agency work with local transit advocates to develop baseline protections for passengers — a commuter bill of rights that would do three things: require a more robust notification system, establish a clear time threshold for how long passengers should sit on idling or stranded trains before the LIRR safely evacuates them, and ensure that in cases where evacuation is not possible, passengers are provided basic provisions, like water.
At a press conference at the Mineola station on Oct. 10, Schumer argued that setting a maximum time for how long passengers should wait before evacuation would dissuade customers from jumping off trains. The senator said it is “simply unacceptable” for commuters to wait on trains for hours without the opportunity to disembark. Although the LIRR has no time limit on evacuations, it does have emergency evacuation protocols.
