Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Long Island Rail Road shut down service early Saturday after five railroad unions went on strike following the expiration of a federally mandated cooling-off period.
The strike affects unions representing signalmen, electricians, clerks, machinists and locomotive engineers, impacting thousands of workers and disrupting travel for nearly 300,000 daily riders.
Negotiations continued through the week up to the deadline, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement on wages and contract terms.
The last Long Island Rail Road strike occurred on June 17, 1994, lasting for two days before a contract settlement was reached. Another strike was narrowly avoided in 2014.
The Five Towns is home to five Long Island Rail Road stations: Cedarhurst, Hewlett, Inwood, Lawrence and Woodmere.
The Herald surveyed residents from Hewlett before their morning commute into New York City about how the strike would affect them.
“I've been coming home every weekend so it definitely would have affected my ability to come home,” Gavin Glassman said.
Glassman, who is a full-time student at New York University, said that if school were still in session he would be stuck in the city and it would be frustrating.
"I live with a roomate," he said. "Sometimes it nice to come home and have my own space."
Michael Edwards, said he commutes from the Gibson station in Valley Stream to Long Island City where he works in transportation.
"It would cost me more money because I would have to drive," Edwards said. "I would have to drive to queens, take a bus to Jamaica and then take a train from there."
Andrea T. said she normally takes the train from Gibson to Penn Station. She volunteers at Sparkidz, a JCC non-profit program for neurodiverse children.
“I wouldn't be able to do my volunteer work,” she said, “and I wouldn't be able to visit my friends I work with.”
Andrea T. is a retired public television employee for Channel 13. Her partner Jeff S. commutes to New Jersey for work as a teleprompter operator for MLB .
"He would have to drive to Secaucus, New Jersey and then take a PATH train," she added.
The contract dispute centered largely on wage increases and the structure of compensation. A Presidential Emergency Board recommended a 4.5 percent wage increase for a one-year contract extension, while the MTA proposed a 3 percent across-the-board raise supplemented by lump-sum payments. Union leaders argued the lump sums would not permanently increase workers’ base salaries and continued pushing for higher recurring wage increases.
In response to the shutdown, the MTA activated its contingency plan, which includes limited weekday shuttle bus service for essential workers and commuters unable to work remotely.
Shuttle buses are operating during peak commuting hours between six Long Island locations — Bay Shore, Hempstead Lake State Park near the Lakeview train station, Hicksville, Huntington, Mineola and Ronkonkoma — and subway connection points in Queens, including the Howard Beach-JFK Airport A train station and the Jamaica-179 Street F train station.
The MTA also encouraged commuters to work remotely if possible and warned travelers to expect significant congestion and delays on roads and transit systems throughout the region.
Nassau County riders were urged to consider NICE Bus service as an alternative connection to subway stations in Queens.
