NY Times: Riders Feel Peak Trains Later than LIRR Reports

A recent New York Times article reported that riders of the Long Island Rail Road and other metropolitan-area mass transit agencies feel delays during peak hours happen more frequently than the agencies' reports reflect.

The LIRR reported an on-time percentage rate of 95.1 percent for 2009. At the Stony Brook train station Tuesday, regular riders were split on whether that appears true based on their experiences.

"It's pretty much on time every time I take it," said Frederic Blanc, a researcher who takes the train out of Stony Brook several times per month.

Eric Chin, a Stony Brook University student from Queens who rides nearly every day, thought the on-time percentage was "maybe a little less" than the LIRR reported.

It's "not significantly late," Chin said, "but it's supposed to arrive at a certain time and it never does."

Gary Reid of Setauket said the trains at the Stony Brook station were precise.

"I never ran into any trouble," he said.

Jessica Rybak of New Hyde Park feels the trains at Stony Brook are mostly reliable, except when it rains.

"The weather definitely affects it," she said. "Last week I got home two hours late because of the rain."

Stony Brook student Luis Reyes, who lives in Brooklyn, sometimes relies on the trains being a bit late.

"I usually plan to get here exactly on the dot, so I guess the lateness helps me," he said. "It gives me an extra minute to make the train. But personally, I don't really notice the lateness."

The Long Island Rail Road said Tuesday on-time percentages along the Port Jefferson branch, which serves the Stony Brook train station, are at 93.2 percent so far in 2010.

"We know that arriving on time is our customers' No. 1 concern and we
strive to improve our performance each day," the LIRR said in a statement.

In 2010, morning peak trains on the Port Jefferson branch have operated on time 93.5 percent of the time, while evening peak trains operated on time at a rate of 89.8 percent. Off-peak trains have operated on time 93.7 percent of the time.